Hi guys,
A big shout out to you guys for printing such a great newspaper. Personally I love and look forward to every issue. I am currently serving time at Woodford Correctional Centre, situated 25 minutes west of Caboolture.
It’s a beautiful part of the countryside to do some hard time in. Our prison yard faces a lush green mountain with a lovely meadow farm at its base. It’s funny watching cows coming and going from a secure prison lol.
I’m 46 years old. Before Covid-19 hit, I’d never been to prison a day in my life. But like many other people, I separated from my partner of 15 years during the long Covid lockdowns. Then my mother passed away and I fell apart and ended up homeless. I’ve now spent 4 years in prison for petty drug and property crimes. Completely my fault. But I am trying to make true change and stop this prison cycle. I do not have any family or friends in the Brisbane area, so I’ve decided to return to Far North Queensland, where I have family around the Cairns and Cooktown areas. Unfortunately, the parole board have deemed my father’s address as unsuitable without explanation. This was my only address option, and I am at risk of spending the remaining 2 years of my sentence in custody instead of on parole where I should be just because of an address technicality.
It feels really unfair, especially as I have a son outside of prison who will have to undergo intensive brain cancer treatment without my support as long as I’m here.
I’m eligible for release mid-July if I can find a suitable address, and I’ve applied for a Crest public boarding house address, but they’ve advised me of a minimum 12-month wait time.
Do you guys at About Time have any information on parole addresses or parole address providers in Queensland? I just desperately need an address ANYWHERE in Queensland so I can be released from custody. The criteria around address assessment is much more relaxed when applying from outside of prison compared to inside of prison, so I’m confident of being allowed to return to my dad’s address within a month of being released IF I can find an acceptable release address.
Any help or information you could provide would make a huge difference and would make a huge difference to me and would be dearly appreciated by this humble soul…
Thank you if you can and thank you if you can’t. Please keep up the great newspaper. I can tell you it’s a light in our otherwise dark prison lives – especially those of us without much support and interaction from the outside.
Kind regards,
Zachy
Hi guys,
A big shout out to you guys for printing such a great newspaper. Personally I love and look forward to every issue. I am currently serving time at Woodford Correctional Centre, situated 25 minutes west of Caboolture.
It’s a beautiful part of the countryside to do some hard time in. Our prison yard faces a lush green mountain with a lovely meadow farm at its base. It’s funny watching cows coming and going from a secure prison lol.
I’m 46 years old. Before Covid-19 hit, I’d never been to prison a day in my life. But like many other people, I separated from my partner of 15 years during the long Covid lockdowns. Then my mother passed away and I fell apart and ended up homeless. I’ve now spent 4 years in prison for petty drug and property crimes. Completely my fault. But I am trying to make true change and stop this prison cycle. I do not have any family or friends in the Brisbane area, so I’ve decided to return to Far North Queensland, where I have family around the Cairns and Cooktown areas. Unfortunately, the parole board have deemed my father’s address as unsuitable without explanation. This was my only address option, and I am at risk of spending the remaining 2 years of my sentence in custody instead of on parole where I should be just because of an address technicality.
It feels really unfair, especially as I have a son outside of prison who will have to undergo intensive brain cancer treatment without my support as long as I’m here.
I’m eligible for release mid-July if I can find a suitable address, and I’ve applied for a Crest public boarding house address, but they’ve advised me of a minimum 12-month wait time.
Do you guys at About Time have any information on parole addresses or parole address providers in Queensland? I just desperately need an address ANYWHERE in Queensland so I can be released from custody. The criteria around address assessment is much more relaxed when applying from outside of prison compared to inside of prison, so I’m confident of being allowed to return to my dad’s address within a month of being released IF I can find an acceptable release address.
Any help or information you could provide would make a huge difference and would make a huge difference to me and would be dearly appreciated by this humble soul…
Thank you if you can and thank you if you can’t. Please keep up the great newspaper. I can tell you it’s a light in our otherwise dark prison lives – especially those of us without much support and interaction from the outside.
Kind regards,
Zachy
Dear Zachary,
Thank you for your letter. We acknowledge that housing is a real issue for so many people. I’m a housing worker volunteering with About Time, and wrote a piece in response to your letter in this paper as I wanted to write about how not enough is being done to solve it. In terms of practical options however, I would make sure that you have a social housing application in and request its “effective date” to be from the initial period of homelessness and that it’s a “priority” application. Make sure the contact details are someone that you will be able to maintain contact with upon release in the event of a housing offer (the Queensland government website says that QCS staff and Re-entry Services staff can assist with this).
Unfortunately with the housing crisis, social housing has become the long-game method (some offers can take up to a decade on priority waitlist).
QCS also launched the Post Release Supported Accommodation program in 2019, which St Vincent de Paul appears to facilitate in these areas:
Referrals to be made through QCS staff directly.
Unfortunately, the lack of housing is a really common issue and a big reason why many people end up doing their top and being exited into homelessness, thus begins/resumes the cycle. Sorry we couldn’t be of more assistance. Wishing you all the best and thank you for your kind words about the paper.
From Charlie, About Time
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When I paint, I'm not in prison anymore. I'm lost for hours in my artwork.
I’d think there are a lot of inmates looking for someone to talk to, for some people it might help with the healing process.
Since having my first ever grandson nearly 3 years ago now, it’s made me realise that I not only want to change, but I need to do it not only for myself but for my family.
My name is Jean. I am a wiry spitfire, 65 years young, and incarcerated for the past 24 years with a L.W.O.P. (Life Without Parole) sentence.
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