Week 1

Week in Review

Monday October 3, 2016

Word got around that class would start at 7 a.m. sharp. When they say “7 a.m. sharp,” they really mean sometime after lunch; we still get up early and get ready. After all, we need to stay ready to keep from getting ready, right? We waited patiently for class, even resisting the temptation of going to recreation. Finally, they came and got us after lunch. When somebody saw Gami (a.k.a. Mr. Boomerang) he quickly started shouting for those of us in Phase Two, the business portion of PEP. I love the enthusiasm, but I have a strange feeling we will be “chicken dancing” as soon as we get to class. It’s our first day Phase Two, so surely we would end up dancing to celebrate our transition from the character phase to the business phase of the program.

To my surprise, we ended up doing our Coat of Arms. Some of us including myself haven’t colored since elementary school, but we still had fun doing it. I like the fact that nobody feels like that they are too tough to be coloring in front of other grown men. I guess everybody is just happy to be moving onto the business side of the program. We are no longer pre-PEP Investigators, but officially PEP Winter ‘17 brothers, and we have our own new badge to prove it! Our families will be able to see everything we do in PEP, and some of us wonder what our families are going to think when they see a bunch of grown men coloring in prison.

The PEP lifestyle is slowly washing away the old prison mentalities, and everybody is on the same mission of transforming into positive role models. Let us not forget that PEP is not a handout, but a hand up, so what you put into PEP is what you’ll get out of it. I pray that we continue to grow together, learn together and have fun doing it. Is everybody ready for some more coloring tomorrow?

Erick A. (a.k.a. Sweet Sopapilla)

Tuesday October 4, 2016

Whew! – one could tell it was early for the Winter 2017 class. Everyone sluggishly trudged down the hallway like a small army of walking dead at 7:45 a.m. One by one as the steps of this hardy bunch got closer to the lively music pumping out the PEP room, you could see the whole class become more alive. It was wonderful seeing hugs and smiles as if everybody found fresh wind beneath their wings after their “heart check.” Let me explain what a heart check is real quick. Basically before we start Phase Two the In-Prison managers make sure that we really are dedicated and that our heart is in the right place. They do that by assigning us what we know as a 3-3-3. This consists of copying the AP style guide handout three times, the Business vocabulary handout three times and the Personal finance vocabulary handout three times. Let me assure you that it is no easy task. Did I mention that we only get a week to do it? It is roughly 20,000 words. Tough!

We’ve shown commitment and dedication in our desire to change into better men. After we prayed in it was time to get down to business as we continued to work on our Class of Winter ‘17 Coat of Arms. If the outside world could see the childlike joy of this group of so called hardened, unloving, untrusting, and uncaring grown men cutting and pasting they would not believe it. Not to mention the coloring with a vibe of brotherly loving unity moving throughout the whole room. I’ve seen more smiles, hugs, hand daps and laughter in this room during our arts & crafts style assignment then throughout my three times in TDCJ. PEP creates memorable moments.

When the call for chow time was sung out you could see this group of 80+ men calmly start putting away the arts & crafts supplies with care and orderly fashion, ensuring there is some for the next class; this example of wise stewardship put a smile across my face, for I truly believe that we all share the same gratefulness I feel for all that PEP has done for me. It is times like this that I wish people could see prison life is not like Hollywood portrays it to be. The atmosphere is solely due to the Prison Entrepreneurship Program on the Estes Unit. Those behind these walls have the opportunity for a true fresh start to actually achieve their full potential. Being in PEP helps you unlock your true leadership skills, creativity and accountability while developing a high level of integrity.

Benjamin A. (a.k.a. Sweet Nicole Richie)

Wednesday October 5, 2016

Today was a really great day – we got called out early for our first “real day” of our Phase Two business class. As usual, we all filed in and retrieved our new name tags, which are now located on the right side of the wall instead of the left for Phase One – another step up the ladder. We went to class and found our new seating chart for this week’s classes. We’re all assigned different seats every week to sit next to another brother in order to get to know each other. Behold, there on our seats was our first PEP Entrepreneurship book, what we’ve all been looking forward to. You could feel the excitement and energy in the room from all the guys. Finally, what most of us applied to the program for is within our reach: learning how to research, organize and operate our own business.

Everybody went to his assigned seat, sat down and waited. We had our usual pray-in and morning devotional reading from a “volun-told” (as in, an assigned volunteer) participant. Then, we heard the usual new book disclaimer, “Don’t write in the book.” We were assigned to the book on our seat and told that the books are numbered, so no switching them out … like the book to the left of me was better than the book to the right of me. LOL!

Brian T. then went to the back of the room and did his dance to the front which brought a lot of smiles from everybody. We had our first PowerPoint on Basic Business plus a handout to go along with it. We were also given a schedule for events and assigned some Microsoft Word and introduction to Excel sheets to study. After all the questions were asked and answered, we had a participant pray us out. Our first day of Phase Two was complete.

Dean Bardsley (a.k.a. Sweet Vanilla Cappuccino)

Thursday October 6 2016

My name is Justin Bellamy, a.k.a. Sweet Fruit Rollup, proud founder and owner of All-Around Construction, where we do it right the first time so that it does not need to be fixed in the near future.

This is the first journal entry I have ever written in my life so bear with me. I woke up this morning already thinking on how I was going to write this entry. We were supposed to have PEP class today but it was cancelled, so we had an extra day off in our opening week of Phase Two. This gives us all more time to study and gives me the entire day to figure out what to write.

I am sitting in my cell listening to the radio and waiting on chow to be called. I have learned a few things already in Phase Two. The first thing I learned is that I can dance well, and the second thing is that if I really try I can remember a lot more than I ever thought I could.

Another learning for me is that there are a lot more to running a business than I ever thought, such as marketing, sales, human resources, government and state taxes, liability, costs and benefits of owning a business, and the different product distribution companies for the materials I will need for my customers. This is just some of what I have learned so far, and I still have a lot to learn about each of these … and PEP still has a lot more to teach me, including how to properly write a journal entry. I believe by the time I graduate PEP I will know and understand how to run a productive and successful construction company, and I hope to be a better and more productive part of society.

My goal is to create a company that helps to improve and empower our employees so that in turn we can improve and empower the community around us. Thank you and have a blessed day.

Justin Bellamy (a.k.a. Sweet Fruit Rollup)

Expressions

If I had to put my “expression” of PEP into one word it would be “REAL” – unlike any other experience or environment, you definitely must have an open mind, a strong desire to change, and willingly step out of your comfort zone for everything from the sweet names to dancing and speaking with a microphone in front of everyone, just to name a few.

Phase One’s Authentic Manhood is very probing and took me deep into my childhood to see the effects it had on me years later as a man so that I can think through how to have a meaningful objective as a “real” man going forward. Sharing my life with men I have never met was far from normal for me, but I must say it is healing. I didn’t know I harbored so much pain on the inside until I shared my testimony and the perspiration showed in my eyes. It wasn’t easy, but I knew change was transpiring.

This evolution has connected me with PEP brothers, past and present, who have completed the journey I am now part of, as well as volunteers who sacrifice their time to share their knowledge with PEP. I have never seen so much compassion from total strangers. The environment at Estes PEP is one I’ve only seen with family, so PEP is now part of my extended family. PEP has been transforming me to a human once again, for which I am truly thankful for. My family has noticed the change in me and is 100% supportive. It’s no longer all about me but my family and all others I can help in life. My purpose is to fulfill my potential, and now I’m on my way to be the man I’m intended to be.

Last but not least I must mention the heart check, where Phase One participants must write three copies of different PEP curriculum before entering Phase Two. I have never written so much until my neck became stiff, hand cramped up, elbow chafed and shoulder was sore. It was a small sacrifice but a sense of accomplishment once the writing was over. I’m an “all in” Winter 2017 PEP soldier!

Jesse B. Jr. (a.k.a. Sweet Lemonhead)