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DRAPER — By day, Viola Murray works as a hairstylist, helping her clients look and feel their best, but her nights are spent behind bars at the Timpanogos women's facility in Draper — not as a convict but as a volunteer mentor, helping inmates find hope.
Murray is part of a new effort at the prison near Point of the Mountain designed to provide support to female offenders as they transition out of incarceration.
The program has been a year and a half in the making. Capt. Bryan Taylor heads it. He started meeting with various people over a year ago, including Murray and her husband, Curtis Murray, to make plans for the Female Offender Transition Initiative. He said, “My high hope is that in a very real way we can affect the lives of the offenders who are leaving the prison so that they don't come back.”
For the past three months, mentors such as Murray have been meeting with inmates to prepare them as they transition out of the prison. The volunteer mentors are paired up with one or more women at the prison and then continue to work with the women even after their release. The mentors are trained to help inmates plan for the future with short- and long-term goals. They act as advocates, helping the inmates find resources and programs that can help them accomplish their goals.
When you have someone reaching out a hand to help you, and you can feel that it's genuine, you know you can trust in them. They are going to not just offer me help and resources but also guidance, somebody to look up to that is successful, that does work hard, that goes to work every day.
–Sumi-Ko Wiley, an inmate participating in the program
Taylor said they’ve already seen a lot of positive response from the program. He said, “When the offenders listen and hear a volunteer talk to them and give support and show empathy, it’s different than any staff member could do.”
The initiative is offering hope to prisoners who previously had none. Sumi-Ko Wiley, an inmate participating in the program, said, “When you have someone reaching out a hand to help you, and you can feel that it’s genuine, you know you can trust in them. They are going to not just offer me help and resources but also guidance, somebody to look up to that is successful, that does work hard, that goes to work every day.”
Inmate Desiree Robertson said the mentor program has already had a positive impact in her life. “I can go in there and tell her anything. She knows me just as much as my therapist does, but it's easier to talk to her.”
Mentors help connect inmates with resources and opportunities outside the prison walls. Robertson said, “It’s hard for us inside here; it takes a long time to communicate with any housing or any jobs or anything like that. She lets us know what's available so that we can get things set up before we get out.”
Thirty-two-year-old Shantel Brown is hopeful the mentoring program will give her the support she needs to stay out of trouble. Brown is no stranger to prison life. She’s been in and out of the system six times now for various drug-related crimes, but she said she’s ready for a change.
“I’m done getting high," Brown said. "I can't continue to do it and continue to come back here.”
She believes the mentor program will make all the difference. “It’s a completely different opportunity than what I’ve normally had going out. Honestly, it's kind of like a dream come true.”
Brown is scheduled for release in a few short weeks. To prepare her for her release, Murray has been working with her for a few months. Their friendship was instantaneous.
“I walked in and I can't explain the intense love I felt immediately for all the residents," Murray said. "It’s a great work; I love it. We see miracles all the time.”
Murray isn't new to mentoring prisoners. She and her husband mentored women at the Salt Lake County jail for several years; they were then asked to help start the program at the prison.
She said, “I feel like we are rescuing souls that are drowning. Doing what the Savior said to do: ‘I was hungered and you fed me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ We are literally doing a rescue.”
The prison is hoping to find enough mentors to help every woman at the prison who wants to participate. To find out more information about the program or to volunteer for the Female Offender Transition Initiative, call Capt. Bryan Taylor at 801-576-7000.
