Last year, Prison Society volunteers made more than 3,000 visits to people incarcerated throughout Pennsylvania. Their visits are at the heart of what the Prison Society stands for – a community dedicated to promoting the health, safety, and dignity of people behind bars and their families. In honor of National Volunteer Appreciation Month, we’re proud to introduce some of these remarkable individuals. We hope their stories inspire you to join us in this work and offer you the same sense of hope and encouragement they bring to our community every day.
Sousan Robinson was desperate.
“My oldest child was incarcerated two days after his 18th birthday,” she said. “He was taken to the county jail where, within a few weeks of being there, on Christmas Eve, he was stabbed.”
“We were full of fear and felt completely helpless.”
But thanks to the Prison Society, help was on the way — for both Sousan and her son.
“Having no understanding of the prison system or how to navigate it, and not knowing where to turn, I do not remember how I got connected with the then director of the Prison Society, but thank God I did,” she said.
“The director called me and told me he would do what he could to help us. Through his relationships within the jail, after hours, and on Christmas Eve, he was able to make sure my son was taken to a hospital,” she said.
“I never forgot this.”
That was 20 years ago.
Now it’s Sousan’s turn to help the Prison Society.
In the shadows
“I am forever grateful to this organization, which is filled with caring people who are dedicated to bringing transparency and dignity to an area of society that exists in the shadows and is mostly forgotten about,” she said.
These days, Sousan serves as a volunteer prison monitor for the Prison Society. She visits people and monitors conditions at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility (MCCF) in Eagleville.
“Sousan is a mother, caretaker, and fierce fighter,” said Dzemila Bilanovic, the Prison Society’s prison monitoring manager for eastern Pennsylvania. “The Prison Society is a better organization with her and the world is a better place with her love in it.”
Volunteers like Sousan, Dzemila said, “are vital to the Prison Society. We wouldn't be able to do any of the work we do without them.”
“Sousan came to prison monitoring through our Family Support Group, so she was familiar with the Prison Society and what we do,” Dzemila said. “This means she quickly and ferociously jumped into the work. In a short time, she became the primary visitor and advocate for incarcerated people” at MCCF, the county jail.
For Sousan, the Christmas Eve incident involving her son jump-started her involvement with the Prison Society. Since then, her son has been in and out of prison and is now coming up for parole. “It’s been a hard thing,” Sousan said, “and he’s gotten more traumatized.”
“Through cruelty, isolation, and neglect,” she said, the prison system “is creating individuals who mostly leave more damaged than when they arrived. This does and will continue to have a ripple effect on all of us.”
Ripple effects
Sousan knows all about those ripple effects in her own family, but it’s bigger than just one family. People in prison need to be better prepared for their release. That’s why Sousan intends to work for “a more humane and just legal system, and the Prison Society provides me an avenue in which to do this.”
Even so, it’s frustrating.
“Often, in my capacity as a Prison Society volunteer, I feel powerless to affect change,” she said. “So, I focus on the small things — making sure to shake the hand, or offer a comforting touch, or speak to the individual by their first name instead of referring to them as inmates.
“I care deeply about treating all people with dignity and respect,” she said. “My Prison Society visits allow me to express care, kindness and encouragement to my fellow human.”
