He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother!

I’ve never forgotten that line.

80 years ago I was paging through my mom’s newest edition of the Saturday Evening Post when I spotted a drawing of a kid carrying a little crippled guy on his back. The caption: “He ain’t heavy, Mister, he’s my brother!” 

The phrase goes back to 1918. 

A boy named Howard Loomis was abandoned by his mother at Father Flanagan’s Home for Boys, which had opened just a year earlier. Howard had polio and wore heavy leg braces. Walking was difficult for him, especially when he had to go up or down steps. Soon, several of the Home’s older boys were carrying Howard up and down the stairs. One day, Father Flanagan asked Reuben Granger, one of those older boys, if carrying Howard was hard. Reuben replied, “He ain’t heavy, Father… he’s m’ brother.” 

It’s been a copyrighted slogan for Boys Town ever since. Now, as I’m compiling short quotes from HFP clients for our newsletter, I’m thinking that phrase also fits our work very well. 

Humanity for Prisoners will be 25 years old this summer. From the very beginning, our goal has been to provide a service copied by no other agency: helping incarcerated men and women with the little things when they don’t know where to turn. In kindness. Assuring them that they matter.

One of the services we offer, for example, is to provide assistance in applying for a commutation or pardon. This can include not only typing up the form but also correcting spelling and grammar missteps and offering advice. Responded one client: “I would like to thank you and your entire staff for all the work you do in helping people like myself gain their freedom.” 

One of the most popular services we provide is helping clients find family members and loved ones with whom they’ve lost contact. The HFP team of people-search volunteers helped this man find a daughter he had not seen or heard from in 10 years! His response: “Thank you for turning my dream into a successful reunion. This would not have been possible without your organization.” 

With two former HFP clients on our staff who have actually served time, we provide excellent assistance for those men and women who are eligible for parole! One grateful client who received his parole said: “I promise you this: I will not forget you all when I get out there, and I will do what was done for me.” 

The list of compassionate assistance we provide to over 6,000 men and women on our client list results in many grateful notes of thanks. 

Perhaps Tom summed it up best: “I'm grateful for your presence in my life, as it has reminded me of God's love for me through you. Your prayer, support, material assistance, and/or communication with me, no matter how great or small, has been a blessing for me in prison!” 

These people behind bars ain’t heavy. They’re our brothers and sisters! 

Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters, you did for me.

Matthew 25:40



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gregory John McCormick: 1964-2008

Itchy is dead. The lifeless body of this talented rock musician, whose band Shock Therapy was a popular group especially in Europe, was found in a field in Detroit last Wednesday, November 5. The Wayne County Coroner's office informed father Glenn McCormick that the body of his son Gregory, better known to all of us as Itchy, bore no signs of trauma. Glenn said that Itchy, who had been living at his father's dental lab in Detroit, had been drinking to excess for some time. While the toxicology report has not been released yet, the general consensus seems to be that he drank himself to death. Our agency, while still named INNOCENT, first got involved with Itchy in 2005. The Detroit native, who called Germany his home, got involved in some unfortunate activity that placed him in the Michigan State prison system on a charge of arson of a dwelling. It was really just a bonfire in an alley, but an alleged parole violation placed him in prison for 1-20 years. I personally sat w...
Read more

No visits? No hope, no future!

  Joyce was on the line. I have no idea how Joyce got my telephone number, but the mother of two adult sons in prison was calling me from Detroit. A Black senior citizen on fixed income and battling cancer had heard of HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS. She asked me to check on one of her sons who, she felt, was becoming suicidal.   I readily agreed, but my next question was why didn’t she personally visit her son? Then came the tears. Months ago, when Joyce was getting checked in to visit one of her sons, the desk officer informed her that she had to go home. Prison visits were banned because a bench warrant had been issued due to unpaid traffic tickets. Being on a fixed income, it was traffic tickets or groceries for Joyce. She chose to keep on eating.   I’ll make this story very short. Assisted by several national agencies HFP, within days, raised money for her traffic tickets, personally delivered the money to her and the judge. She was finally able to see her boys...the fir...
Read more

Work among and with prisoners: Heartbreaking!

  It must surely be a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit that even a small number of those men and women in the hell of the prison system survive it and hold on to their humanity.” ― Howard Zinn   The stuff I’m reading from and about Michigan prisons this week is so unpleasant! It underscores the very reason why HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS was formed 24 years ago, and the reason why, today, HFP offers a cup of cool water, “action with compassion.”   St. Louis Correctional Facility   The Michigan Corrections Organization reveals that it has received alarming reports from St. Louis CF exposing hazardous and unsafe conditions. “SLF experienced a rash of violence in July 2025 which included 15 staff assaults, 25 prisoner assaults, and 69 prisoners sent to segregation for fighting. Additionally, 23 prisoners went to segregation for protection and 45 for refusing to lock in general population. The facility was put on lock down multiple times including after a...
Read more