I know many people have been waiting on an update on my situation. I want to apologize for going off the radar, I'll explain why before you finish reading.
First off, for those who have not heard the good news on the visitation situation with my Mother, the visits have been REAPPROVED. They were approved on august 11th 2010. I want to thank EVERYONE who supported us during this time, and to EVERYONE that signed the petition that was posted. I feel it played a major role in the consideration for reinstatement of the visits.
Days before the 6 month appeal we were allowed, I wrote a heartfelt letter to the Warden trying to get him to understand the relationship my Mother and I have, plus the importance of having my Mother in my corner in this situation. Along with the letter I sent him the petition with the 223 signatures hoping that he'll see how much the people support our stance.
It seemed all of it worked. Now I'm waiting until the end of October to change my visitation list so I can add her.
The hard part is done and THAT struggle is won. It wouldn't have happened without the support of the people.
Now what I've been working on is trying to start a program for youth. I would like it to be sort of a mentor program that connects men inside with troubled youth outside.
The goal of this program is to show that we on death row can still be beneficial to society and not the “threats” that we are made to look like. Also this program will help youth:
- Talk to men that can understand and relate to theirproblems.
- Let Youth see what can happen if they continue totravel the path they're taking.
- Help out of touch parents understand the problemsthat their children are going through.
I would like to work with a church or a community center that can identify these youth and are willing to save them before its too late.
The way I vision this program is first having parents of these youth contact us inside with the intentions of getting to know the person their child would be talking to.
Once we have a nice amount of connections, and the parents feel comfortable, then the next step is bringing the youth to visit for counselling. This is the most critical step of the program. We want the youth to visit this place and see how imposing it is, plus how we're locked and caged like animals. It gives them a chance to see where they could be. The face-to-face connection is key to the steps f change and growth.
I remember when I was on Juvenile probation and they had this program I was required to go through called “Scared Straight”. They would bus a group full of kids to a prison and make us experience the whole process: working the fields, sitting in a cell, being yelled at by guards and inmates, etc.
The goal of this program was to scare kids from prison, myself and numerous others are prime examples that the program didn't and still doesn't
work!
That's why it's time for a new and updated program. One that saves these kids before they get caught up in the juvenile criminal injustice system, and for the ones that have been through juvenile, to save them before they end up in the never ending adult criminal injustice cycle.
What I ask to anybody that is reading this is for help starting this type of program. Anybody that has anything to contribute will be helpful. I'm also looking for a church or community center that's willing to help and work with me on this.
I have numerous ideas that can go into this program once it gets started.
If anyone can help or if you would like more information, please contact me directly.
Hopefully we can work together to save our Youth.
“It takes a village to raise a child”
--African Proverb--
Christopher Young 999508
Polunsky Unit d/row
3872 FM 350 South
Livingston.
Texas 77351
USA
or you can EMAIL leaving your name, organization/church information and this will be passed on to christopher as soon as is possible
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