On the second Tuesday of every month, residents of Chicago's St. Leonard's House gather for an hour of pure poetry. Started seven years ago, the poetry class provides residents, all former inmates, an opportunity to read, debate, and write poems.

"Often times you feel like your voice doesn't have any validity," says Halbert Williams (pictured above), a former resident and now employee at St. Leonard's. "In that class, we open up and speak, regardless of our background or education."

Garrett G. Sandro Miller

The class is the brainchild of Brandon Crockett, a community volunteer and advertising copywriter at Leo Burnett, who became involved with St. Leonard's shortly after moving to Chicago.

Kendra S. Sandro Miller

"I saw a posting for a need for volunteers at the facility and because I've had a longstanding interest in working with inmates and former inmates, I contacted them. I didn't have any previous teaching experience, but I was interested in poetry and thought maybe leading some sort of informal discussions on it would be a positive experience for anyone interested."

The class was almost instantly popular (and continues to be, says Williams) and Crockett was astounded by the poems the residents were writing.

Bobby C. Sandro Miller

"I instantly knew this work was special," says Crockett, "and I knew I wanted to find a way to share the work with a wide audience." He continues, "I had an idea to create a book of portraits of the residents with their poems, but since I don't have a background in photography or design, I wasn't quite sure how to go about it. And then, by chance, a friend of mine showed me a book by Sandro Miller and I was blown away. It was exactly the sort of thing I had in mind...so I sent Sandro a hand-written letter asking if there was any way he would work with me to put something together. Two days later, my phone rang and it was Sandro. He said, 'I'm all in.'"

Anita H. Sandro Miller

Over the next 12 months, Miller photographed 65 residents with their work. Miller recalls the emotions on set: "Several times I was moved to tears as a person, with heart, feelings, and an undeniable need for understanding, sat in front of my camera. As I read their poem, often I wept. I wanted to save them, hold them, and listen to them. Instead, they saved me with their words of life, broken dreams, new dreams, uplifting dreams, and dreams of a new beginning."

Margaret O. Sandro Miller

Crockett and Miller are now working to publish a book of all the photos entitled, "Finding Freedom: Poetry and Portraits of Former Inmates" and have launched a Kickstarter to help cover the costs of printing. Any money they raise above what they need to publish, they will donate entirely to St. Leonard's.

Burrell Sandro Miller

"What I'd like," says Crockett, "is for people to open the book and capture a glimpse of life from another perspective and hopefully realize the thoughts and feelings of people who have served time in prison aren't much different than their own."

Have a look at some more of the photos below.

David V. Sandro Miller

Sandra M. Sandro Miller

Brian T. Sandro Miller

Halbert W. Sandro Miller

Jeanette B. Sandro Miller

Francisco V. Sandro Miller

Bonnie R Sandro Miller

Otis W. Sandro Miller

Elizabeth Griffin Strategic Visual Content Editor for Hearst Digital Media, Photo Editor of Esquire.com, and staff photographer at Hearst.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io