Life After Prison: A New Car for Cindy

Perhaps Charles Dickens said it best: “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” Knee-deep in the service of reaching, rehabilitating, and sharing resources with the prisoners in and just out of prison in Alaska can be a daunting task, one that at times seems far too great for one person or organization to make a difference in. Recently, Rescue Alaska, in partnership with ACM, was able to remember the value in impacting each individual, and the significance of simply lightening the burden of another.

Cindy* was recently out of Hiland Mountain Correctional Center when she made the choice to change her life and get a job. However, soon after her new job began, her car broke down. “I didn’t know what I was going to do,” Cindy said in an interview in December, “I didn’t have the money to fix it and I need a car to get to work. My mom told me to pray about it and I did.”

Soon after, our organizations learned of this important need, and gave Cindy a car. “This really helped me with my faith,” Cindy expressed, “My mom doesn’t have a lot of faith, but she told me this has helped her faith too.” Cindy’s renewed hope, as well as her new car, has enabled her to keep working, and keep striving towards a productive and fulfilling life, as well as be a light in the darkness to her family. She expressed her gratitude in a card saying, “Thank you so very much…this blesses me in ways you’ll never know. May God bless you as he has me.”

Though the mission at hand may seem too much to take on, Cindy is a reminder that there is no act too small, and no person insignificant in life’s great scheme. In the lightening of another human’s burdens, people are anything but useless. For there to be true change in the lives of Alaskans, the work will start with one life at a time.

Rescue Alaska looks forward to being a part of meeting many other needs like Cindy’s. Please visit Donate if you would like to partner with us.

*Cindy’s name has been changed for security purposes.