Humanity for Prisoners

August,2026, marks the 25th anniversary of Humanity for Prisoners. This is the ninth in a series of reflections by founder Doug Tjapkes.   I’m a newsman. I love a good story. For HFP, this ranks as one of the very best!   2009, and I’m having lunch with former Grand Rapids Press writer Pat Shellenbarger, who had paired up with me while working on the Maurice Carter case. “I have a letter here that may interest you.” It was in a state prison envelope.   The letter was from Mark Hartman, a businessman from New York State who, like Maurice, claimed wrongful conviction in Berrien County. A friend had handed him a copy of my book SWEET FREEDOM shortly after his arrival at a Muskegon prison. Noticing the many similarities in the Hartman and Carter cases, Mark wanted to contact the author. With no success in reaching me, he reached out to Pat Shellenbarger, a name he had seen in the book.   My office at that time was in Muskegon. So, rather than send a reply I just ...

August,2026, marks the 25th anniversary of Humanity for Prisoners. This is the eighth in a series of reflections by founder Doug Tjapkes. Unsung heroes don't seek glory; their virtuous deeds speak louder than any praise!   (anon) I can’t tell you how it all started. Neither can Judy. We think it was around the year 2008, and here’s how she and I think the story began.   Judy VanderArk of Grand Rapids had a heart for prisoners and was helping several incarcerated students of the Crossroad Bible Institute who resided in Michigan prisons. A state prison rule is that you may visit only one person. She wanted to visit more.   I helped her attain clergy status to solve that problem. I was looking for fund raising ideas, and Judy and her husband Pete were the directors of a fine mission training project called MOSES. They knew how to raise money, and they helped me to solve that problem.   Well, whether it was for one of those reasons or both, Judy and I not only conn...

August, 2026, marks the 25th anniversary of Humanity for Prisoners. This is the seventh in a series of reflections by founder Doug Tjapkes.   Michigan has just one prison for women. At any given time some 2,000 women are locked up in that facility in Ypsilanti, Michigan. This prison, Women’s Huron Valley, has been in the news a lot lately. Much of the disturbing coverage has been due to the fact that 5 persons have died there since mid-May. This has lawmakers, prisoner advocates and even editorial writers demanding improvements in what has been labelled “health care neglect.”   As I read one of the most recent articles on the topic in the Detroit News this week I was reminded that Michigan’s shameful treatment of women has been a subject of concern for us from day one. Our care, our concern and our actions have drawn the love and respect of those behind bars in Ypsi.   As I look back on our many experiences, our wonderful bond with the women of HFP is no surprise. I...

August,2026, marks the 25th anniversary of Humanity for Prisoners. This is the sixth in a series of reflections by founder Doug Tjapkes.   John Smietanka: At the beginning, a bitter enemy.   Every time I heard the name John Smietanka it was in negative comments from my friend Maurice Carter. Maurice had been arrested, prosecuted and convicted of a crime he did not commit back in the 70s in Berrien County. The prosecutor at that time was John Smietanka. The case was handled by one of his assistants. However, he was considered the enemy by Maurice and all of us in the committee seeking to free him.   Fast forward 30 years. As the founder and sole employee of HFP, I was getting badgered by one of our new clients. He insisted that I discuss his case with attorney John Smietanka, who had an office in Grandville. This guy had been wrongly convicted in Kent County and had heard about a high-profile wrongful conviction case that John had won. Remembering Maurice, I resist...

August,2026, marks the 25th anniversary of Humanity for Prisoners. This is the fifth in a series of reflections by founder Doug Tjapkes.   Oh, the irony of it!   My friend Andre’ Nelson, now 55 years of age, has been fighting well over 30 years trying to prove that he did not murder anyone.   Andre’ was one of our very early clients after I formed the organization in 2001. At that time our agency’s name was INNOCENT, and so we obviously caught the attention of men and women behind bars who claimed wrongful conviction. Andre had been convicted of a 1993 murder that he claims he knew nothing about, after only 1 hour of deliberation by a jury!   This was a unique case in that the alleged justice system in Detroit shamefully took advantage of a young man with a low IQ. Following a personal visit with Andre’ in the early 2000s he and I became special friends. The more II learned about his case the more upset I became.   I know that he could not read well ...

August marks the 25 th anniversary of Humanity for Prisoners. This is the fourth in a series of reflections by founder Doug Tjapkes.     I have no idea how Joyce obtained my home telephone number, but she did…and she called me.   An elderly Black woman living on fixed income and battling cancer, I had never met Joyce. But, she knew about Humanity for Prisoners, she found my personal telephone number and she was begging for help.   Joyce explained that she had a son in prison who was experiencing serious mental issues. She feared that he might try to take his own life and she asked if we could not only check on him, but perhaps even find some help for him.   My immediate response was, “Why don’t you visit him, yourself? A chat with his mother would certainly be best!” And that’s when I learned of a bigger problem. Her reply: “I’m not allowed to visit him!”   Long story short…she has not one, but two sons in prison, and she hadn’t been allowed to...

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...

Michigan’s only prison for women has drawn a lot of attention recently. Family members, observers and even state lawmakers have called for the resignation of   MDOC Director Heidi Washington following 4 recent deaths at the facility. As a result of these pressures, reported almost daily in the media, the warden of Women’s Huron Valley (WHV) took a leave of absence and the MDOC Director actually moved her office into the Ypsilanti facility for a while.   Despite all of that, a couple of whistleblowers tell HFP things haven’t really changed all that much.   On the subject of retaliation: - “ Many of the women here are scared to speak up due to the retaliation becoming worse and worse. The director may have walked off, but nothing has gotten better. Many of our voices are being silenced due to fear. Just because we did wrong, does not mean we deserve to be treated this way!” - “If I make any suggestions or try to help I am cussed out or shoved out of the programs.” ...

Many of us (especially parents) involved in prisoner advocacy actually grieve on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day! Occupants of our prisons are no different than you and me. Those holidays are special for us, and incarcerated men and women wish it could be special for them, also. It’s not.   Shortly after Father’s Day, 2026, (which I was blessed to observe with kids, grandkids and 2 great grandkids!) I came upon a program in California that has promise. I’d like to see it get started it Michigan.   It all began 26 years ago when a group of Catholic sisters and laywomen made visits to a couple of women’s prisons in California. One heartbreaking theme emerged repeatedly: "We never see our children."   So, they did something about it! The program is called “Get on the bus.”   “Get on the Bus” brings children and their caregivers from throughout the State of California to visit their mothers and fathers in prison. This statewide prison visiting program trains and e...

Insisting that residents of Michigan’s prisons come up with a copay before they can receive medical or dental help just doesn't make sense!   If you live in any one of the state prisons in Michigan you must cough up $5 before you can see a medical specialist in healthcare. On the surface that doesn’t seem like much. But, you must factor in prison wages for those who are fortunate enough to get a job. The pay scale is likely to be in the area of 70 cents an hour.   Now consider how rotten the food program is in our prisons…bad food and small portions. So, that prompts those who live behind bars to use the vending machines and microwave ovens. When they have only a few bucks to spend, and the choice is between food or medical care, guess which one wins!   I’m bringing this up, once again, because I just saw a note that said the MDOC collected more than $126,000 in medical and dental copays during the 2025 fiscal year. The MDOC annual budget exceeds $2.1 billion! That...