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Dee Dee (DD) is a peer educator and founding member of the women's advisory board of Our Place, DC. Formerly incarcerated, Dee Dee is also a caregiver for women living with AIDS. The following is an excerpt from an interview conducted by Our Place outreach coordinator Tracye Payne Wilson (TPW).

TPW: What did you find the most difficult about being incarcerated?
DD: I would say just losing my family while I was incarcerated because I was never home. When my grandmother died I was incarcerated, when my father died I was incarcerated, when my sister died I was incarcerated and just by the grace of God when my mother died I was out… And I think those were my most difficult times. Just losing everybody that I loved and being locked up. Not being able to really pay my last respects and to be with the family during that process

TPW: When you got home and decided that you were not going back and you had made up your mind to continue to move forward what kind of difficulties did you encounter in trying to turn your life around?
DD: First of all, I didn't have anywhere to live… I was picked up in Richmond, Virginia, where I was living. I had been out of DC for almost five years and I had lost most of my ties here in DC. A friend allowed me to stay with her and her kids for about a month or so. Then I went to stay with my godmother for a while. That was one of the problems I had. I was homeless.

Another problem I had was that I didn't have any job leads. I had some skills under my belt but I didn't have any job leads. What I had to do was get my resume together and all my credentials together as far as my social security card, birth certificate, non-driver's identification and all those types of credentials in order to go out and look for work. Looking for work was like me working eight hours because I stayed out there all day everyday on the pavement looking for work and I would just come home and sit on the bed and I would be so tired I would just cry. I felt like something was wrong with me, like I didn't have the necessary skills for the work that I was applying for or I was like reaching beyond what I could really do… A third problem was that I didn't have any money. But I didn't have some people who were very supportive of me. They took me shopping and bought me outfits to go look for work in. I had people who would buy me bus passes to look for work. My godmother always made sure there was food in the house. So I did have some people who were there for me when I came out.

A lot of women don't have that. They don't have a place to stay. They don't have any job skills under their belt. They don't have anybody to go to and say, "Look, I need a bus pass so I can look for work." Because what happens is we burn all our bridges sometimes.

Theresa L. (TL) is one of the many women who seek services from Our Place. In this Oct., 2000 interview with Tracye Payne Wilson (TPW), Theresa talked about her history of drug abuse, which led to prostitution, theft and ultimately incarceration. Today, Theresa works in a clothing store and has been reunited with her children.

TPW: Can we talk a little about where you are today and how you got to where you are? I believe you have your children back in your life.
TL: Yes (smiling). They lived with their grandfather for four years while I was on my path of destruction. I was selling drugs and I knew I was going to jail so I left my children with my father in Pennsylvania and I came to DC.

TPW: What is it that you want for you and your kids today?
TL: I just want to be the best mother I can today, to love them and to have a good life.

TPW: When did you and your children reunite? And how is it working out?
TL: I went to Pennsylvania and got my children a week after I was released from the halfway house. It's going as well as I can expect. There is a lot we need to work on and I've been taking suggestions. I want to get us into family therapy. They don't think we need it but I feel it would help. I also know that I need individual therapy because I have a whole lot of issues.

TPW: What would you say to encourage other women?
TL: No matter where you've been or what you've done in your life you don't have to be ashamed. You don't have to hide anything. If people care about you and love you they will accept you for who you are. You just have to believe in yourself and know that you can do it no matter what. If you survived those streets you can survive the straight world. You just have to believe in yourself and others will believe in you too.

Thanks to "Finding Our Place," the newsletter of Our Place, DC.

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