#88 Prison EC? (retro)

What is a prison EC?

First off, congrats to Kansas for winning the NCAA Championship last night, in overtime. I thought for sure that Memphis was just too tough, but as they saying goes, “that’s why they play the game”.

Tonight the women play, as Tennessee will play against Stanford. I will be watching that one too. I think Tennessee will win but I like both teams. Stanford is of course from California, where I used to live, but I have admired how Pat Summit coaches her team, and how both basketball coaches really get into the student spirit.

Ok, let’s get to prison issues.

If you have been reading my blogs lately, you have heard me talk about Prison Encouragement Certificates, or as the title says, “prison EC”.

What are they, and what is it for?

I am pretty sure this isn’t original, but I do this quite a bit. Prison encouragement certificates are just that, certificates. These items are a way to bring a sense of encouragement to a person that may really need a boost in self esteem.

I thought about it while I was in prison, near my release. Since I have always liked writing, I had my mom send me designer paper so I could write poems on… and YES, they were original.

But some of the paper was certificate paper, and I thought about how I could use that to my advantage. I was terrible in drawing, but I could write my butt off. I often had guys come to me to write a poem for them, and I made a few coins off that. But on my last camp a friend of mine was making, “Mother of the Year” certificates. I looked at it and realized that this was something I could do. While he was using only plain white paper, I had actual certificate paper in attractive designs. I could make it better.

And so I did, using the computer and printer in the computer class to print my certificates. Yeah I know, I should not have been using the printer like that while in prison, but what are they gonna do now, call me to the warden’s office?

After I got out in 2001, and when I started prison writing, I needed some way to supplement an income so I could spend more time writing on prison issues, thus the “Grades of Honor” books. But I needed other things to enhance the books, so I started making cards and eventually prison encouragement certificates.

A prison encouragement certificate is a way to award an inmate with some level of positive emotion or feeling. You are sending him or her a vote of confidence in the form of an award. Why is this important?

Because many people in prison need that lift. Understand that regardless of what your loved one did to be in prison, they are still someone you care about. And finding encouragement while in prison is not easy at all. How would it feel for him to get an “award” for “loving son” or “loving daughter” or anything like that?

Many of my certificates go further than that, creating and establishing a positive mood for the inmate. Let me give you 2 examples:

Example One: Blessed Hope Award.

I created this certificate by first using a background of a nature scene of mountains with heavy clouds above. You can see from the clouds rays of sunshine breaking through, bringing light to the land. To me that is an example of hope in a troubled time. I put the title at the top center and put some text to it, which goes like this:

“May you be blessed with the hope that even in your difficult times, you are still loved. May you never forsake your faith in yourself, humanity and God above.”

The text is in a different font with a gray background, highlighting the phrase. I put the salutations at the bottom, the “from” and “to” so you can personalize it and send it to your loved one. I jazz it up just a bit to put some color in it.

Example Two: Certificate of Grand Love.

This certificate may sound like a Valentine, but it can be used just as much from a mom as it could be for a wife. Don’t quite know if a pen pal wants to use it, especially if you are concerned about mixing signs. Anyway, this certificate has a plain white background with designer light red squares on the top left and bottom right corners.

The certificate is surrounded by an image of an antique picture frame of gold, and the title in the top center in old English font. Underneath is my message, saying:

“This award to you is presented with my grandest love. May you always remember that you are loved.”

I use a fun but cute font for that message, and underneath I put a space for you to date it, and at the bottom are the salutations so you can personalize to whom it goes to and from whom.

I have about 50 different certificates for many different occasions, along with about 50 or more prison cards, and I try to mix and match some with those who buy my books. But I do sell these separately.

If you are interested in that, let me know, but I have to share this with you, if you get one of these certificates, do NOT laminate it or put it in a real frame, you know prisons are not too likely to accept them if you do. You may have to fold it and send it in a regular envelope, rather than mailing flat, but you can contact the prison to know for sure.

Anyway, that should give you an idea of what they are about. I encourage you to email me at derf4000 (at) embarqmail (dot) com and ask me more about that, or ask about my books and such, as the support really does help me blog more.

I have had a few asking, but I am trying to lump them so I don’t have to make several trips to the post office to mail…although if I had lots of requests I should not mind so much.

So email me if you have other prison questions, email me about my books or just let me know you are out there. I appreciate that.