Members of the Military Preparedness Program are pictured doing 22 push-ups in unison during the ORW Veterans Day ceremony following a presentation from Satoya Moffett, at podium, regarding statistics that indicate 22 U.S. veterans die by suicide each day. Another MPP participant, pictured at rear, did 22 back-handsprings in their honor.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Kayleen Petrovia)
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The incarcerated veterans at the Ohio Reformatory for Women are often reminded by Unit Manager Jason Heard that they may have made mistakes, but they still served their country.
“We always preach to the women, once a veteran, always a veteran,” Heard said.
The Military Preparedness Program at ORW, founded by Heard, helped to host a Veterans Day ceremony at the prison Tuesday morning.
Francine Sass, an inmate who served with the U.S. Army for almost eight years, said the opportunity to honor those who have served gives her “a sense of pride.”
“It makes me remember that feeling when I first signed on that dotted line” to enlist in the military, she said.
The Military Preparedness Program was created in 2013 as an ORW program that mimics basic training with the goal of positive behavior modification, Sass said.
Aside from P.T. – physical training – MPP participants learn about military history, the significance of the flag and different ranking systems used by each branch of the armed forces.
Sass said there is an emphasis on learning about the military from a woman’s perspective, as MPP members learn about famous servicewomen and women of color who served in the military.
The four-month program allows the women to learn the values of the military and how to implement its discipline into their lifestyles, Sass said.
Veterans, like herself, often serve as mentors for the other women in the program.
Sass said watching new MPP participants learn and evolve throughout the program is like sending a child off to college and seeing them grow into an adult.
“It makes me feel like a proud mama,” she said.
Heard, who is also a veteran and serves as the Military Peer Support Leader for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said he was motivated to create the program because he appreciated how much community support he received after returning from his deployment.
He also works with the precursor to MPP, GIVE, which is a group specifically for incarcerated veterans at ORW.
Heard said a representative from Veterans Affairs visits the prison on a quarterly basis and offers advice and resources surrounding difficulty obtaining housing, recovery from substance use and mental health.
The GIVE group also hosts an annual fundraiser to generate donations for local organizations.
This year, the women raised $600 each for the Union County Military Family Support Group and 3rd & Goal Foundation, which was established by former NFL quarterback Brady Quinn to help returning veterans, through sales of Der Dutchman baked goods at ORW.
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Ken Bonnell, the chairperson of UCMFSG, called the MPP and GIVE groups one of the organization’s “key community supporters.”
Bonnell, who acted as ORW’s first institutional investigator following his military career, served as the guest speaker during Tuesday’s program.
He told the women that their support of UCMFSG allows the nonprofit to step in to support local military families, whether their loved ones are deployed or at home.
The ceremony also featured a poem read by a military family member many of the incarcerated women are familiar with, ORW GED class teacher Ms. Nikki Lewis.
She read the poem “I Give To You, My Son,” whose author is unknown, in honor of her son, who graduated from boot camp in October and is serving with the U.S. Marine Corps.
When people think of the incarcerated population, Lewis said they often forget to think about the women’s prior experiences in life.
Lewis said those who are incarcerated are like most others in that they may be the mothers, wives or sisters of men and women serving in the military. A number are veterans themselves.
She said the Veterans Day program allows the women at ORW an opportunity to connect with the veterans they love, and share that feeling with others.
Although teachers “only share small parts of our personal lives” with ORW students, Lewis said it is touching when her students will tell her “how proud they are” of her son.
While many of the incarcerated women were teary eyed throughout the ceremony, Sass said it “gives me joy” to have an opportunity to honor those who have served and “give back to the people in the community I love and have respect for.”
“We already have a sisterhood (among veterans at ORW),” Sass said. “We consider (the military community) a family.”
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Lt. Col. (Ret.) Ken Bonnell and his wife, Bonnie, pictured at right in blue jackets, accept a $600 check from the GIVE group at ORW to benefit the Union County Military Family Support Group. ORW Unit Manager Jason Heard, who oversees the Military Preparedness Program and GIVE, is pictured at left.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Kayleen Petrovia)