THE GATESVILLE MESSENGER: June 3, 1998
Several inmates at the Gatesville Unit Trusty Camp are receiving new HOPE
through a faith-based literacy program. Ms Smith began a search at the Gatesville
Unit for inmate tutors. Beverly Calvin was one of those who answered the inquiry
and was selected as the first tutor for the HOPE program. “It’s terrific and it’s fulfilling,
” Calvin said. “I feel like I have found a purpose in my being here. I feel that for right
here for right now, this is my purpose.” After completing her prison job in the kitchen,
she spends at least five nights a week helping others learn to read. Currently, nine
offenders are participating in the program. Some attend tutoring sessions as much as
three times a week.
Darlene Thompson, an inmate from New Orleans, has been in the class for two months,
and hopes to take what she learned home to help her own children and grandchildren.
“I stopped (going to school) in the 11th grade,” Thompson said. “I think I was basically
reading, but I was not comprehending what I read. This course has helped me to understand
what I’m reading.”
Gatesville Unit chaplain, Tim Hunter said HOPE helps develops “the whole person. It helps
the offenders grow as individuals.”