Rebecca Laprairie wipes away tears during a course graduation ceremony for women inmates at the APSO Women’s Correctional Center in Cottonport. The course, developed and presented by Faith House and approved by the state DOC, is designed to help female inmates who have been victims of abuse.
{Photo by Raymond L. Daye}
‘Strong women’ graduate anti-abuse course at Women’s Detention Center-Cottonport
Thu, 10/22/2015 - 07:55
Raymond Daye
First of its kind in the state
By RAYMOND L. DAYE
To most observers, the women in the prison library would be considered anything but “strong.”
“Tough,” probably. “Broken,” most likely. “Troubled,” definitely.
But these women -- the first graduates of a Faith House-developed course on overcoming the devastating effects of abusive relationships -- were, in anybody’s dictionary, “strong.”
The course, developed from “In Our Best Interest” by Ellen Pence, is designed to enable women to overcome the effects of past abusive relationships and to break the cycle of abuse for the future.
“This is something I always wanted to do,” Faith House outreach coordinator Henrietta Lewis said. “I talked to Maj. Darren Bordelon, of the Avoyelles Sheriff’s Office, and with Warden Coretha Bonton at this detention center, and together we got the curriculum approved by the Department of Corrections.”
The Oct. 1 graduation ceremony in the Women’s Detention Center at Cottonport was also significant in that it was a symbolic kickoff to Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Bordelon said Avoyelles is proud to be the first parish or state prison facility to have a course on this important social issue. He credited Lewis’ “persistence” with ensuring the state approved the program.
“I wish we had more of these kinds of programs in Avoyelles,” Bordelon said. “This is the first of its kind in the state. Henrietta was very persistent in pushing for this program, and I’m glad we have it.”
Faith House Executive Director Billi Lacombe came up from her Lafayette office to participate in the historic event.
Looking out on the faces of the women -- black, white; young, middle-aged; smiling, crying -- Lacombe thanked them for having the courage to step out and try to come to grips with their past and protect their future.
“Today, I consider you a part of our ‘tribe,’” Lacombe said. “A tribe of strong women. I hope this class has given you something to take with you when you leave this place, and that it will be something you can give to others.”
Shana Bayard of New Iberia read a poem by Brenda Hager, entitled “Strong Women.”
“This poem was given to me when I was first incarcerated, and it has meant a lot to me,” Bayard said. “I share it whenever I have the opportunity.”
Two verses of the poem seemed to strike chords among her fellow graduates:
Strong women are afraid. They face fear and move ahead to the future, as uncertain as it can be.
Strong women are not those who succeed the first time. They’re the ones who fail time and again but still keep trying until they succeed.
Personal stories
During a cake and punch party after the ceremony, Bayard said the class “let me know that I was not alone, that I was going to get through it, that there are people who understand what I have been through and want to help.
“I was abused since I was a young child,” she continued. “I always ended up in abusive relationships. Now I have learned how to accept a healthy kind of love.”
Melissa Cooper, of Lafayette, said she learned that her past abuse “was not my fault. I accept that things can happen, but there are people you can talk to that can help you get through it.”
She said she had been abused “at different stages of my life. If women know there is a place like Faith House that they can turn to, it will impact them a lot.”
Ashley Guillot of Marksville said the course affected her so deeply that she wants to volunteer as a “student helper” for future classes.
“This class provided me with a way to express what I had been holding in for so long,” Guillot said. “I was able to open up for the first time.”
Guillot said she believes the class will make a difference in her life when she is released. She feels prepared to take control of her life and live a fear-free, abuse-free life.
In her remarks to the class, Bonton reminded inmates of the Detention Center’s motto: Every woman can change.
She challenged them to put those words into action, strengthened by what they learned in this class, when they finish their sentences and return to their communities.