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Storytime from prison; artist draws funny lines
© St. Petersburg Times The child picks up his book and begins to read to his mother. It is a scene played out in homes throughout the land. But on this Monday, the child is in the Tampa office of Abe Brown Ministries. The mother listens intently, with the reverence any mom would have. But she's not in the office. She is in a prison, two hours north of Tampa. It is technology that makes this mother-and-child reunion possible. With the help of the Internet and a speaker telephone, the mother speaks to her child from prison through a live video transmission. Abe Brown Ministries and the U.S. Bureau of Justice implemented the Reading Family Ties Face-to-Face program in June for mothers serving time in the Hernando Correctional Institution near Brooksville and the Lowell Correctional Institution near Ocala. Chrystal Hammond, executive administrator of the ministries, loves the program. "A lot of people don't understand," Hammond acknowledged. "They think when people do wrong they should go to jail, but for a mother to be separated from her child is a devastating thing for the child. "They come here and talk and it's cutting out a lot of issues with kids and parents that exist when they don't have contact." The U.S. Bureau of Justice estimates that two-thirds of women in prison have small children. These children often do not understand what has happened to their mother and develop inappropriate social skills. Abe Brown Ministries buses relatives to prisons every week, but they are limited to one bus trip a month. The Face-to-Face program allows the mother and child to visit once a week. "They're really kind of in awe," Hammond said of the children. "The moms not only talk to them, but pray with them. It is a tool for restoration." Hammond says the mothers who participate in the program behave better in prison, and the picture on the monitor is so clear the moms often take pictures of their children. I guess everyone needs the human touch, even if it comes through a video teleconference. Thomas Kinkade gave an unusual performance at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center over the weekend. Kinkade, who bills himself as the most collected artist in the world, put a different spin on mixed media by combining visual displays of his pictures with music and a little stand-up. Kinkade came out with his wife and four daughters during the presentation and managed a number of one-liners. Okay, he was no Martin Lawrence. But something tells me the audience was happy he wasn't. Here's another mixed-media effort to mark on your calendars. In the first of four jazz soirees staged by VIVO (Vitally Interested Volunteers for the Florida Orchestra), classical violinist and concertmaster Amy Schwartz Moretti will perform jazz on Aug. 20 at Maestro, the restaurant at the performing arts center. It may sound like a stretch, but I think Moretti will get the beat. After all, husband and Grammy-nominated jazz drummer Steve Moretti will perform with her. Put down the patdown. Fans at the Bucs-Dolphins game Monday night should have delivered the message to the Bucs and the Tampa Sports Authority. Certainly in these times, extra security precautions are needed. But the patdown is an unnecessary intrusion, a violation of personal space usually reserved for those suspected of committing a crime. The Bucs could use metal detectors and hand-held wands. That might cost more than hiring security guards to pat down fans, but the costs would be balanced with a significant reduction in potential lawsuits. It would only take one wrong move by a security guard to create a legal situation. Here's one time when we don't need the human touch. That's all I'm saying.
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Times columns today Ernest Hooper Gary Shelton From the Times Metro desks |
