Over the last quarter century, the number of women behind bars has increased by more than 700 percent. According to The Sentencing Project:
Half of those women were not employed full-time the month before incarceration. Nearly half had never finished high school.
As we walk into the chapel, the dreary images do not change. The walls are chipped, faded, and need painting. The lighting is haphazard and stark. But the dreary, colorless, neglected images are contrasted with 19 prisoners all dressed in their blues—light blue smocks with “CDCR” emblazoned on the backs with dark blue pants. Blacks, Latinos, and whites. Beards, shaved heads, and cornrows.
The class of 2014 is so excited about what God has planned for them. The graduates know they will continue to be challenged every day, but they have gained self-confidence and discovered their God-given passion and purpose through their in-depth study of God's Word.