Humanity for Prisoners

August marks the 25 th anniversary of Humanity for Prisoners. This is the third in a series of reflections by founder Doug Tjapkes.   I’m not sure how it all began. In the earlier days of HFP I was invited to numerous Michigan prisons to hold workshops, give speeches and answer questions. Having made several visits to Women’s Huron Valley (WHV) I learned that a group of women were crocheting for charity. Their wonderful products were going to various shelters for women.   Later, I was surprised to discover that many men had taken up crocheting! These guys discovered, as well, that such an activity was not only a good use of time but also an excellent way to do something for others. For example, a veterans’ group in one of the facilities was making stacks of coats, hats and scarves for indigent and homeless vets.  We shared photos in our newsletter. BUT, there was a common supply problem. These projects were invariably hampered by a lack of yarn, something the state...

August, 2026, marks the 25 th anniversary of Humanity for Prisoners. This is the second in a series of reflections essays by founder Doug Tjapkes.   It was a typical Michigan winter day. Latitia, a young single mother from Benton Harbor, was being released from Women’s Huron Valley, our state’s only prison for women, located in Ypsilanti.   A prison van delivered Latitia to the Greyhound station in Ann Arbor where she would board a bus for the ride to her hometown. The moment she stepped out of the van it was gone. She stood alone on the curb with no coat, no boots and no way to stay warm. Then things turned from bad to worse. The ticket agent informed her that, due to blizzard conditions, her bus trip to Benton Harbor had been canceled.   Where to go? What to do?   Latitia spotted a nearby shelter for women. It was there that she found heat and a telephone. She could remember only one telephone number: that of Humanity for Prisoners.   Laticia was ...

  August, 2026, marks the 25 th anniversary of Humanity for Prisoners. Founder Doug Tjapkes reflects on early experiences in this month’s essays.   “Are you Mister Doug?” I was walking to my car in the parking lot of INNOCENT’s new office in downtown Muskegon, Michigan. The year was 2004 and I had just moved into donated office space in the old Muskegon County jail. The move was not public information and I have no idea how someone tracked me down. But she did.   I turned around and found a young Black teenaged girl looking up at me. I responded, “Yes, I’m Doug.”   Somehow this little girl not only knew who I was but also what I was doing. She was aware of the work of INNOCENT.   Then she started telling me her story. Her daddy was in prison in one of the 3 facilities right there in Muskegon operated by the Michigan Department of Corrections. She tearfully explained that he had cancer and that he was dying. “Can you help me?”   A reminder, he...

Hospice was on my mind a lot in the early 2000s. Number one, my wife Marcia had been a certified hospice nurse for 2 decades. Number two, my full-time job was leading and running HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS, and there were numerous shameful stories about death and dying.   I felt the need for genuine hospice programs in our state prisons and wanted to do something about it.   I hosted a town meeting on the topic in Grand Haven with a panel of experts. I then went a step further by conferring with Hospice of Michigan. I and HOM representatives made a presentation to the top brass at the Michigan Department of Corrections. We felt it was an offer for help that the state could not reject. We were wrong. We were told that the prison system’s hospice-type program called CHOICES was more than adequate (it wasn’t!). That’s an acronym: It stands for Choose, Health Options, Initiate Care, and Educate Self. The message to our team was clear: thanks but no, thanks.   I provide all ...

  The year: 2004   The scene: A tiny examination room in the Michigan prison hospital in Jackson   The occupants: Michigan Parole Board Chair, Maurice Carter and Doug Tjapkes   The event: A Parole board interview/hearing   Parole Board Chair Rubitschun : “If I told you that you could walk out of here right now as a free man would you confess to the crime of shooting officer Tom Schadler?”   Maurice Carter, #145902 : “I would never confess to something I didn’t do!”   I was there as Maurice’s rep. The room was filled with so much medical equipment I was forced to stand. I had been at Maurice’s side since the mid-1990s fighting for his freedom. He had served 29 years for a crime that he did not commit. A team of attorneys and Innocence Projects was making little headway in seeking exoneration, and then came a medical emergency. Maurice was rushed to a nearby hospital in Lapeer where it was determined that he was suffering from Hepatitis C/end...

The older I get (I’m approaching 90!) the more I think, following my comments at an event, what I should have said. For example, I was a member of a panel at the Wealthy Theater in Grand Rapids last weekend for the Can Film Festival’s screening of WRONGED: THE MAURICE CARTER STORY.   After hearing about wrongful convictions and shortcomings of our judicial system, I was asked: “What can we (the public) do?”   I had to think quickly, so I responded by advising everyone to express their opinions at the polls. Michigan lawmakers have been reluctant to take any action on issues that could bring about change. Later I got to thinking about how I could have elaborated.   Local   -Prosecutors are elected. Choose one who is open to alternative sentencing, who doesn’t press for quick plea deals to avoid trial, and who doesn’t oppose the supreme court’s order to resentence juvenile offenders having life sentences with no parole. -When you hear and read about police of...