At Adopt an Inmate, we believe in the power of storytelling to change hearts and minds. Our Good, Bad, Change campaign invites people in prison to reflect on three simple yet profound prompts. By sharing these personal responses, we amplify the voices of those directly impacted by incarceration — voices too often silenced or ignored.
This new series will highlight responses from our inside-outside network. To submit your responses:
Snail mail:
Adopt an Inmate
*Good Bad Change*
PO Box 1543
Veneta, OR 97487
Through our website:
Use this form.
Email:
Responses by:
Ray in Texas
💬 The Good: What’s one positive thing you’ve seen or experienced in prison?
A: Inmates help each other out regardless of race or color. For example, I have personally done this—when someone does not have soap, I have given them soap or stamps to write a letter. I have done this even when I had very few things or little to nothing. But it is prison, and not everybody is the same. The good people who do good things are few—at least from what I have seen.
As far as officers go, I have seen them help people out, which is part of their job. However, a good officer doing good and treating people like humans is rare. I have seen an officer go out of his way to make something right if it was wrong. For instance, I had just received my Level One status, but they still had me listed as Level Two. An officer helped me get it fixed so I could get my property for my Level One status.
💬 The Bad: What’s one negative thing you’ve seen or experienced in prison?
A: There are so many bad experiences, and a lot of those things I cannot say openly because they are too severe. But this is prison, so I will try to name a few. I have seen people throw feces and urine on each other. I have seen us get rotten food on our trays. I have seen people fight. A lot of racism exists. There are just so many bad things to name. For one, you do not want to live in prison. Despite everything, it is still prison, and bad things happen here. But there are good things too.
💬 The Change: If you could change one thing about prison, what would it be?
A: I would say encourage prison reform nationwide for all prisons. This includes improving living conditions, creating second-chance programs, providing better education, offering better food, fixing the grievance system, improving health services, and reforming the parole system to actually give people a chance to go home. There is so much more that can be done.
Responses by:
Iris
(Ray’s Adopter)
💬 Please tell us about your experience adopting an Inmate.
A: When I first encountered Ray at the end of 2022, I couldn’t have imagined how profoundly his story would impact me. What began as an exchange of letters turned into an extraordinary friendship, bridging two vastly different worlds: mine as an insights consultant and his as a former gang member navigating the isolating confines of solitary confinement. Over the past two years, this unlikely connection has become a profound source of learning and growth for us both.
About a year and a half ago, I created a blog to document this journey. Through the posts, I shared Ray’s experiences, my reflections, and the insights we uncovered together. Writing these entries gave me a platform to amplify his voice—a voice shaped by resilience, creativity, and a determination to grow despite unimaginable constraints.
Ray’s transformation is nothing short of remarkable. His artistic talent, which he continues to hone, has become a cornerstone of his personal and emotional rehabilitation. It’s not just about the stunning realism of his drawings but about how art provides him a means to process his past and imagine a future beyond the prison walls.
This friendship has deepened my understanding of what it means to extend empathy and support, to see the humanity in someone society has often overlooked. It’s taught me to celebrate progress, however incremental, and to believe in second chances.
Writing about my experience for Adopt an Inmate feels like a natural continuation of this journey. My hope is that sharing our story will inspire others to connect with those incarcerated—not out of charity, but out of recognition of their potential and shared humanity. Adopting an inmate is as much about changing our own perspectives as it is about helping them.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share this journey.
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