Serving Productive Time: Stories, Poems, and Tips to Inspire Positive Change from Inmates, Prison Staff, and Volunteers

Are you or have you ever been incarcerated? Do you have a loved one in jail or prison? Do you work or volunteer at a correctional facility? Have you ever been the victim of a crime? Do you understand that we all share the responsibility of helping others―no matter who they are, where they live, or what they have done? If so, you understand that incarceration affects everyone and that only through positive change can people begin to heal and grow.

In Serving Productive Time, you'll read about extraordinary people who are taking tangible steps to make positive changes in their own lives and who are reaching out to help others do the same. Some stories will help you gain a new perspective on those who are incarcerated. Some will help you understand the need to prepare inmates for release and to support them afterward. Others will help you appreciate your freedom and remind you that we all make mistakes. And still others will reaffirm the fact that, although many of us might be imprisoned in some way (either by a limiting belief, illness, or other situation), we all need a helping hand at some point in our lives to lift us up and show us the path to a new life.

Serving Productive Time will leave you with a renewed appreciation of the need for all of us to use our time wisely to make ongoing, positive changes in our lives and to bring others along with us in the process―whether we live or work inside or outside the razor wire.