I was an inmate, I was released Jan of this year, I would like to get involved in helping anyone who feels thier loved ones are being abused. I do have 3 months parole left so I have to be careful , but come jan 04 its on. Do contact me if you would like to talk about anything or you need inside info.

Welcome to PTO. I am sure you will hear from people. Also, in regard to Gowanda happenings, there is a thread in the NY forum by..ummm Dee72 or something close to that.
Good luck with your parole

Welcome to PTO. Good luck with everything.

hello mark and welcome to pto!! my boyfriend is currently at GCF and i cant stress how much i hate that place. I would love to chat with you one and one. please pm when you have a chance.

welcome to PTO!

I'm not sure how many people know this, but last week four officers were arrested at Gowanda for stealing food out of packages in the mail room. Also, another officer was arrested for not handing out mail. They opened his locker and found huge,huge stacks of mail.

Okay so now we know Gowanda is corrupt.

OMG Tonya are u serious??? well of course u are!! that crap makes me want to cry. I know last month tito questioned me about some stuff he had wanted for his package and i was a little shocked because i sent everything he asked for!!!!! and i just put a pkage out last week and now i am stressed about that too, one because i had wrapped the box and only put his name on the outside box and not the inside (dumb me) and now with what u told me!!! GRRRRRRRRRR i hope none of that stuff belonged to our men. :(

Amira,
Thanks for that information. IT was good to hear!! A couple months ago, someone said on here that there was a new Superintendent there and things might get better, I wasn't holding my breath but your report looks like maybe some things WILL change.
I am sure those situations are barely the tip of the iceburg that mike-smart wants to address but it is a start.
My guy was there 71/2 months, his mail was almost always off, delayed or missing, and so on. We were totally dependant on our mails for communication because he can't call me through the regular phone system. It was a totally stressing environment and made worse by the slip shod way they delivered the mails.
Caprione

Yes lets hope that the new Super has made some serious changes for the better. I also heard that someone from the inside sent a "dummy" pkge to see about missing items and "YUP" the cat went for the cheese. Items were indeed missing. Good work to who ever decided to catch thier own in action. i am truly pleased to hear about the changes going on in gowanda.:) now i can be a little at ease

So How are all you folks today. I know that everyday that passes is one closer to your loved ones returning. Lets talk today about the Gowanda staff politics. The old super Mr. Frank McCray was a very slick dude. He use to play like he wanted to help the inmates out, he would feed us all a bunch of gungho speeches and then turn around and stick it to us..He was a true political ass. The big problem at Gowanda when I was there was mostly the COs. McCray was black, the redneck inbred cops were mostly white and hated the black COs, so they passed this hate on to the inmates. The black Cos were mostly very cool, they were easy to get along with and mostly fair, they came did there 8 and left, I worked for one lady in our dorm as a porter and she looked out for me, she didi not care that I am white. So the lesson here today is ,,if things seem to be getting better, they may be , but at that place always be ready for the tables to flop. No one can be trusted there, unless they have a badge that says F.B.I. or they are from the state police,,,believe it or not the state police hate the corrections cops,,,the COs are mostly people who failed to cut it as State Cops

I'm happy to know that somethings at Gowanda are changing. But we all know with the DOC everything is subject to change. However I also know that I call there once a week to speak to my man's counselor, I speak to him everyday, and visit at least every two weeks. The first time I suspect anything is going on or that anyone is doing anything to him, I will turn Gowanda inside out. I live in Albany about 5 minutes from DOCS offices, I have no problem with going there everyday. So, I hope that the changes are for the good, if not they better not f**k with my man. He only has a couple more months left, so hopefully everything will remain for the good.

-Tanya

Tanya,
Glad there are only a couple of months left for your guy at G. I agree it's great to see and think things are changing. Mike is correct, there is still plenty to be done and those with people in there shouldn't get 'lax' with keeping at the issues the guys face.
My guy made it through without any discipline problems but he was stressing so badly he was getting physically ill. To top it off, when he was successfully done there, they moved him 80 miles away instead of putting him back to the facility he came from. sigh
Since he left there, he has been fine with none of the 'ailments' that were giving him a lot of trouble at G. It was just the stress of the place..sigh
He didn't tell me a lot but one incident he shared was so ridiculous...In the mes hall, a CO came up to him screaming he had too much ice in his cup....when my guy said 'it's only ice', the CO took the cup, dumped it out, threw it on the floor, then stomped on it...sheesh...they were just trying to bait him but he handled it well. (He and I know that was nothing compared to what others have had to deal with there).

roc city girl... I know you been waiting months for your guy to transfer out...any dates yet?
Caprione

Cap, NO NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!! He spoke with his counselor last week and she told him that they are still waiting for a bed for him!! thats bull. when he was working in the state shop,he had access to the list of inmates getting transferred and he told me that they were shipping inmates out by the s*hitload on a daily basis to minimun facilities!! some one ratted out that he had access to the list (he shouldn't of have had access) so now he cant see when the heck he is getting out. damnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Sorry to hear the delays!! That stinks... hopefully, he will get out of there soon!! Take care,
Caprione

hi my husband is also at gownada and I think that he is going to have a nervous break down. He sent a note to see his counselor and never got a response back. He is in the asat program and wants out of there so bad. He says that the co's are really nasty. The visit was pretty good and the cos were pretty nice. I was never there been there before. If they would ever do anything to him gowanda would go down because nothing would stop me.

Oh man!!! my man wrote to me today and i feel so bad for him, he asked me to bring him my depression pills :-( my heart is breaking here. I know this is all because we haven't had a visit in like 2 months and his his transfer hasn't kicked in yet either. Well he is getting a big surprise on sunday because baby girl is coming through like whoop whoop. my visit will hopefully raise his spirits.

Hanksmom,
Sorry to hear how stressed your husband is, they are so tough with the guys in those programs...sigh. My guy gave 120% all the time (never n trouble anywhere) and never got a kind word. Instead they lambasted him because he was 'educated and articulate'. They never graded or gave back any of the homework assignments and there was tons of homework!! But if your guy can stay focussed on what he is there to do, he can make it through! I can't remember how long your husband's been there but the first month was the absolute worst for my guy...once he could see how it was and adjust, he managed to tolerate it.
It is stressful for you, too. I will keep ya's in my prayrs. He may have to write the counselor more than once to get a response.
roc city girl!!! Have a terrific visit!!! he probably won't need those pills once he has some time with you! take care,
Caprione

Maria,
Enjoy your visit. Hopefully, he'll be okay after the visit. I wish I were getting a visit this weekend, but good for you.

-Tanya

Thanks T!! i swear i am acting like its my 1st time seeing him in years, I cant even sleep right at night. I'm too excited!!!

hi caprione thanks he unfortunately has only been their 3 months. On our visit all he did was cry. I told him to keep being good and maybe something good will happen for him. He wants the work release program so bad. I thinks that he is more depressed because it is my sons 15th birthday on Sunday and he can't be with him. He is also in a play friday and saturday and my husband is his biggest supporter. I feel like telling him nothing that goes on at home because it makes him to depressed. Thanks and I will tell him what you said about the couselor my prays are also with you and everybody else who is in our situation. God Bless.

Hanksmom,
Is that a 6 month program? If so, It means he is half done, so, he is heading for the end of the tunnel now. Things got a bit better for my guy the last couple months. Maybe just the getting used to it...sigh. It is so difficult. If he wants that work release, that is what he can focus on to help him get through the rest of this time. Maybe it will help to look at the time gone, rather than the time left to do.
When I know something special is coming up, I get all the info I can, pamphlet, take some photos of the location, a picture of what people are wearing and things like that and send them to my husband (in advance of the event when possible) so he can 'be there' with us mentally and in spirit....I dont know if that's anything your guy would see as positive ro not but mine really benefits from it.
PM me anytime you want , or need, chat.
hugs,
Caprione

Cap, that is a wonderful idea. i know Tito gets depressed with not being able to attend functions with us. Our son has a recital next month and i am going to take alot of pics so that he can feel like he was there.

thanks for the advice I hope that the pictures and the program will help him. I will pm you soon.

Great, I haven't figured out how to get into the live chat and enjoy the PM mode more anyway. I am glad the ideas seemed useful for ya's!
hugs,
Caprione