This former crime reporter uses the letter to help people in prison change their lives

By Meg Dunn, CNN

Indianapolis (CNN) – Debra des Vignes spent more than a decade as a reporter for on-air news in small markets in the USA. Most of the time she reported on crime.

Only later did she realize that she didn't know the whole story of the people she reported.

“We only had what the law enforcement told us. I always asked myself, but it was such a fast environment,” said the Vignes. “It is not the case that I didn't care, but it didn't have time to learn about his or her background anymore.”

Vignes always wanted to volunteer in a prison to better understand the people behind the stories she reported. The opportunity came in 2017 when she met a colleague whose husband worked for the local prison.

The Vignes volunteered to teach a victim -mpact class to help the perpetrators to recognize the consequences of their crimes from the victim's perspective.

“I think society has this picture of television and films and what it represents and how a criminal act or act on the shoulder with a chip,” said the Vignes. “I found the opposite.”

During the course, the Vignes decided to deviate from the curriculum and to have the occupants write a letter to their victim. The Vignes said she saw how these men opened up in a way that they didn't have before and wrote some very effective letters.

“There were many raw talents in this room,” she said.

This class inspired the Vignes to found their own non -profit organization in order to focus on writing with detained people. The workshop of the Indiana Prison Writers workshop was born in 2018.

“Fuel to do better”

The 12-week 12-week creative writing program of the Vignes comes from an Indiana prison and has since expanded to eight prison system in Indiana, Alabama and Illinois. For the Vignes, time with prisoners has humanized the crime stories that she once treated.

“With this work, learning your stories and where you come from brings everything into the right perspective,” she said. “I don't feel bad about my reporting, but I recognize the humanity of life.”

The curriculum developed by the Vignes and their volunteer team offers imprisoned students a basis for creative writing through weekly requests and introduces fiction, non -fiction, poetry and dramatists. For the Vignes, the goal is to create a sacred space where you can write and share openly.

“Some may want to understand their past, others may want to spend an hour and a half in a positive environment,” said the Vignes. “And some may just want to be heard and felt and welcomed.”

For Jordan Dabbs, who serves a 10-year sentence in Putnamville Correctional Facility due to drug-related charges, this weekly class is a room to work through his restless past after the loss of his mother, father, sister and brother.

“[I] Came to an intersection and had to make a decision whether I would use it as a crutch and hinder my growth or use this fuel to make it better and get out of the situation in which I was, ”said Dabbs.

For students like Dabbs, this class offers you an outlet to revise trauma in a group environment. The participants share their work with the class, so that they not only receive feedback from classmates and trainers, but can also create bonds.

“I'm looking forward to my Friday afternoon than most days,” said Dabbs. “Everyone can really be themselves for two hours a day. We are like a little little family here.”

Value beyond the prison walls

The influence of the program results from more than just writing. For Chris Lewis, who was previously imprisoned, this course helped him find compassion in prison.

“One of the most difficult things you should hold on is your humanity, and then someone looks in the middle and says:” Man, that's a person. “For them that means the world,” said Lewis. “When Deb came in, she is just [saw] us as humans. “

So far, more than 250 imprisoned people have completed the program, said the Vignes. While this work in prisons has positive effects, the Vignes has also spread far beyond the prison walls.

“A prisoner said that he could write more personal stories to his son to repeat this father-son relationship that was lost because he had the courage to write and express,” said Vignes.

For the Vignes, who is a single parents with a full -time job, it is a love work that she wants to continue to grow.

“It makes sense to my life, for purpose,” she said. “It's like an appointment and I don't want to waste a second with it.”

Would you like to get involved? Take a look at that Indiana Prison Writers Workshop Website And see how to help.

Donate to Indiana Prison Writers Workshop about Promising, Click here

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