I have a friend named Mitch that I met in a different time of my life, in a much different place. Much like myself, Mitch made decisions that had huge negative impacts on many lives around his, and his own. Mistakes were made, grave ones, and at 16 years old, Mitch was sentenced for his crimes to life in prison. I know I skipped a lot there, but that was on purpose. Ill let him fill in any details he wants if/when that time comes. I assure you that I am not asking for help for a rapist or child molester, but I cannot tell you that you'll like any more about his past, so I'll leave that to him.

So that's the bad, but here's the good. This man is a good man. He is now 47 years old and if your math is correct, yes, he has been in prison for the last 31 years. Let that sink in. He made a huge mistake, I cannot say that enough, but he made that mistake at the age of 16. Again, he has been in prison since 1993 and is now 47 years old.

I made 10 or so close friends/now family in my time away. Out of those 10 or so guys, all of them did as much time as me or more. They all have been home around as long as I have. Half of us own businesses, and the other half all have solid/good jobs. And NONE of us have gone back to prison. That's the best stat I can give you. I'm not tooting my own horn here, I'm just saying that young people who make mistakes, but still have a lot of good left in them gravitate towards each other and that's what we did. All of us. Including Mitch. He is 100% a great person with a great outlook no matter how bad life got. He is a hard worker and a go getter. He's a 16 year old that was going to go on and do great things, but sadly life didn't shake that way for him, and he earned a much different path. Sadly I had to say goodbye to Mitch when I was being transferred to a lower level, because my friend, my brother was never coming home, and I was, if all goes right, never going to see him again. If you can imagine that feeling, I promise you its not a good one. I share that to share a contrast to it that has sparked this whole thing. As bad of a feeling as that was, I'm so happy to share that I will soon get to feel the exact opposite of that feeling. Saginaw county reversed some law involving minors and being able to sentence them for life(or something like that). Moral of the story, Mitch has been back to court and resentenced. He has been given an out date that he has already passed with his time served and we are expecting his release in early April. Yes, it's unbelievable! But its 100% happening. So im reaching out to my community to ask for help. I know what he NEEDS. I also know what he doesn't. I've been there, trust me. I don't plan on putting any cash in his hands from this, because that's not what he needs. He needs work boots, a couple pairs of shoes, socks, underwear, shirts, pants, work clothes once employment is acquired. He needs a bank account and a secure credit card with a low limit. He needs access to food and toiletries. He needs to get his license and a decent enough car. Maybe a rew months rent, who knows. He is starting life at 47 with no life experience, so if you can imagine that, you can imagine the things he needs.

Please. Any amount helps. Thank you for anything you can give and please share this post. Let's see if we can get him a good start.