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\u201cThis program is not just designed for them while they\u2019re here. We\u2019ve got people outside supporting them until they\u2019re stable enough not to need us anymore. We\u2019re helping them get into rehab or get a job and making sure they have a safe place to live before they get out of jail. We\u2019re lining up this path for them, and we\u2019re offering them support long after they\u2019ve been out of jail,\u201d said Cook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Desiree Mullis, director of the Full-Moon Healing Project, was hooked after sitting in on the group\u2019s meeting. She became MRT-certified and works with Cook, along with the group of participants in the program, and she also works in trauma therapy. Mullis, who is recovering from a former addiction and a survivor of domestic abuse, knows the secret ingredient to the program\u2019s success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c[The women] have said it themselves. \u2018Cook gave us a spot where we didn\u2019t feel like we were going to be taken advantage of by a man. He\u2019s the first male in our lives that didn\u2019t expect something in return. All he wanted was for us to be honest.\u2019 And that\u2019s why it provided such a healing space. Not only did he provide MRT, but he\u2019s gone above and beyond to provide any kind of supporting program that the males and the females need because that\u2019s a part of their healing journey. And so, for them, being in jail and having Cook is a safe space to heal, move forward, and give back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cook expected trust would take longer to build.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said, \u201cI knew we\u2019d go through some stages. Trust doesn\u2019t just happen right off the bat; I went into it with that expectation. But the very first night, they showed signs that they were already starting to trust me a little bit, and by the second class, they opened up, gave their testimonies, were honest with each other, and started to trust me. It happened organically right from the beginning, and the second class was the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Experience taught them that anyone interested in them would soon be demanding or taking something from them. Life and their circumstances taught them to lie, steal, manipulate, and do anything necessary to get what they needed. And what they needed always came back to anything that kept them from feeling the things that had hurt and haunted them. MRT has stepped them through naming and feeling these dark turns and twists, many of which were initially beyond their control, happening to them as children. It\u2019s given them the ability to see which things they had no control over and which things they willingly chose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Participants receive tools and resources to change their lives, their families, and the community around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nothing does that better than hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And while we could look deeper at the MRT program and its steps, nothing and no one explains what it offers in Bedford County better than the participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Words like relationship, sisterhood, advocate, trust, honesty, forgiveness, value, and love are spoken through tears and laughter. Every single woman in the room shares from her heart what the program is doing in her life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt really means the world to me because I\u2019ve made a lot of bad decisions, but it\u2019s taught me that I can be successful, confident that I can do the right thing, and everything\u2019s gonna be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne of the greatest things I\u2019ve accomplished was graduating MRT. Nothing can take that from me. That\u2019s something I have never ever acknowledged or even considered\u2014doing something that made me proud of myself. And I am very proud of myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s sisters because you can argue with each other, and then, literally minutes later, you\u2019re laughing about something. I\u2019ll do something stupid, and they\u2019ll make fun of me, but it\u2019s okay because they\u2019re my family. It is a family and a sisterhood.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe program makes you want to change. It\u2019s forced me to address things that I don\u2019t like to address. But I also have people that support me to do that, and I can trust them as a sister in a healthy way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUntil I started MRT, I didn\u2019t realize my decision-making process was all messed up. Once I got out some of my guilt and trauma, I realized my self-esteem had something to do with the decisions I was making. As I got all that out, I started making better decisions. I don\u2019t wonder now; I know how I got here. I know that if I make the right decisions I\u2019m not going to end up back in jail. I\u2019m not going to overdose or sell somebody a drug that [will] hurt them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And what really sums it up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCook, you put your heart into this program. Not just this program; you put your heart into us, and I thank you for that\u2014 for the belief you\u2019ve had and still have in me. For you to trust me on the outside the way you do, means a lot. You made this program with the heart that you put [into] it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Heart, hope, and healing have come into the jail, and new life is walking out of it. GN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A lot of things are missing from life inside the Bedford County Correctional Facility (BCCF), but something unexpected is present. It\u2019s hope.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7996,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27],"class_list":["post-7977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","tag-january"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/DSC_8356-1024x598.jpg\")
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