Dear Friend,

 

My name is Fatuma.

 

I was born in Somalia and spent my childhood in a refugee camp before my family came to the United States. I was 12 years old when we arrived—the oldest of seven—and my father had been killed in the war. My mother brought us here alone, to a country we didn’t understand, where I didn’t speak the language and where my hijab made me stand out in every painful way. It only worsened after September 11, 2001.

 

Years later, after a car accident, I was prescribed painkillers. That was the beginning of the spiral. I lost control, then I lost everything else: my family’s trust, my freedom, and time with my newborn son.

 

He was only three weeks old when I went to prison…the first time.

 

I missed his first smile, his first steps, his first day of school—all the moments a mother is supposed to remember forever. My mom raised him, but I carried the ache of those lost years every single day. There’s no sentence as heavy as watching your child grow up in photographs.

 

When I came back to prison the second time, I thought my story was finished. I kept my head down and waited for the years to disappear. Then the Televerde Foundation came looking for women to join its PATHS program. I still had more than seven years left on my sentence so I didn’t think I’d qualify. But they saw something in me I couldn’t yet see in myself, and they said yes.

 

That yes changed everything.

 

Inside that classroom, I learned to show up differently. People listened to me, believed in me, and expected more from me. Slowly, I started to expect more from myself. I discovered how to use my voice again, how to lead, and how to hope.

 

Today, I work as a Program Coordinator for Career PATHS. My relationship with my mother has healed. My sister, who hadn’t spoken to me in years, reached out after seeing a story about my journey on ABC15 Arizona. And my son knows his mom is still fighting for her future and his, not waiting for it to happen.

 

I may still be behind walls, but because of this program, my life is already bigger than them.

 

Right now, PATHS in Indiana and Arizona could lose funding. If my story touched you, please help protect this program for the women still inside.

They deserve their chance too.

 

P.S. As a small thank-you, every $25 you donate (or monthly gift) enters you in a drawing for a 7-night stay for four at the Mayan Palace in your choice of Riviera Maya, Nuevo Vallarta, or Puerto Peñasco.

 

With gratitude,

Fatuma