We just kept at it.
Ernest Fuller says he’s proud to be honored as the Prison Society’s Volunteer of the Year.
But...
“I don’t know how they can choose among all the volunteers that I’ve met and who have done so much,” he said. “I’m sure there are lots of folks who deserve the award for what they do.”
Ernest is definitely right about the Prison Society’s top-notch volunteers. But notice how he credits others. That’s one reason he is such a valued Prison Society volunteer — that, and the fact that he has been visiting the Blair County Prison since 1991.
Solid, steadfast, supportive, and calm are words his colleagues and fellow volunteers use to describe Ernest, who serves as chapter leader for the Blair County chapter of the Prison Society.
It’s also how he describes his work.
“I am proud of keeping us together and keeping people interested and keeping a good relationship with the wardens over the years, so they’d be willing to listen to us,” said Ernest.
“I happened to get involved, and I thought it was a good thing that should be done and there were other people who wanted to do this, so I just continued,” he said. “We just kept at it.
Exactly.
Ernest’s “continuous and longstanding commitment is remarkable,” said fellow volunteer Edmundo Grab. “As the [leader] of the chapter, he is the voice of reason and knowledge that keeps us focused on our mission.”
As chapter leader, Ernest schedules monthly visits to the Blair County Prison, which opened in 1869 in Hollidaysburg, the county seat, not far from Altoona.
Ernest also assigns cell blocks to visit, meets with the Warden after visits, attends Prison Board meetings, and organizes the Christmas tour of the prison.
It’s hard work, but rewarding, Ernest said.
“Trying to get things changed in the prison system is quite discouraging, but helping individual people is a real joy,” Ernest said.
As a Prison Society volunteer, “you can indeed help individual people, and if you want to get something done, you have to keep working at it,” he said.
“It’s not that the Blair County Prison is a gem at this point, but it has improved,” Ernest said.
A new women’s wing, for example, was recently added to the prison.
“Over the years, I’ve seen several wardens come through the prison, and each one has been better than the last trying to actually run the prison as best they can with the limited resources they have and the lack of interest in Blair County in improving things for the prison,” Ernest said.
At Christmas, Prison Society volunteers and others carol among the cell blocks. They distribute homemade cookies and provide each person with two blank Christmas cards so that they can send holiday greetings to their families. (The prison funds the postage.) Local school children make cards for the people in prison.
Characteristically, Ernest credits other volunteers for the idea, “but we’ve managed to keep it going,” he said. “It’s wonderful.”
Lately, under Ernest’s leadership, volunteers are making weekly rounds with a book cart. “That might not seem like much,” Ernest said.
Oh, but it is. “Thank you for bringing light into this otherwise dark and bleak place,” one incarcerated person wrote in a letter. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you so very, very much for bringing books around.”
Ernest’s volunteer work at the Blair County Prison actually had its roots half a world away in New Zealand.
Back in 1991, the New Zealand Society of Friends reached out to the Quakers in Philadelphia and asked them to visit a young New Zealand woman imprisoned in Blair County. The Philadelphia Quakers turned to the Dunning Creek Friends Meeting. Ernest was among those responding.
At the time, the Prison Society’s Blair County Chapter had dwindled to one member, Ernest said. “We reinvigorated it” and later began monthly prison tours, talking to people inside and taking issues to the warden.
People in prison “feel very powerless in the prison, but they are willing to tell us things. We get that information to the administration, which often solves the individual’s problems,” Ernest said.
“And of course, we see things,” he said. If someone mentions mold in the shower, “we go in the shower and look. We report it and hopefully something happens. Next time, we look again. Often, it’s cleaned up. But sometimes it isn’t, so we bring it up again.”
Too often, Ernest said, the general public tends to think of people in prison as “others" that they are somehow different. They don’t realize that most people in prison are coming out at some point and need some help to stay out.
“I could have gotten trapped in the same system,” Ernest said. “I did some silly things when I was younger. Most people do. I was lucky enough not to face the consequences.
“Once someone gets involved in the criminal justice system it’s very difficult to get out of it.”
At 81, Ernest plans to retire as leader but will continue to visit Blair County Prison in between chopping a winter’s supply of wood, mowing fields, and repairing fences on his property in rural Six Mile Run.
“Once you do go into a prison and see the problems and see the neglect from society at large, you feel a responsibility,” he said. “And certainly, if you get to help someone, it’s really appreciated.”