At one point during Marsha Colby's four-year stint at Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women, 72 women shared just two working toilets.

"We've had worms come up through the drains in the shower area," she said. "And the kitchen – I don't know how it's ever passed any inspection at all."

Colby, now 49, was incarcerated at Tutwiler from 2008 to 2012 on a capital murder charge but was released after a judge vacated her conviction and she pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.

The years she spent at the prison were enough to leave a lasting impression, particularly of the kitchen and dining hall.

"A lot of food and stuff that the churches would donate and things like that would go straight out the back gate (with guards)," Colby said.

Inmates say, on an average day, they were served small portions of food – sometimes a main course some women dubbed "mystery meat" and occasionally beans with suspicious-looking sprout-like shapes.

"The food has worms in it, and the boxes say 'Not for human consumption,' said Stephanie Hibbett, who served just more than a year at Tutwiler in 2010 and 2011.

Five years before that, Nicole Brooks was similarly disgusted during her yearlong imprisonment.

"There were numerous times that I didn't eat dinner, but you eventually go and eat because you're just so hungry," she said. "I had to dump my tray out because there was worms in my beans or peas. They would say 'Oh, that's just the sprouts,' but this country girl knows what a worm looks like."

When federal officials or attorneys visited the prison, inmates were fed a meal that was lavish in comparison – hot dogs, cole slaw, baked beans, cake, an apple and extra bread.

"That's what they do - they put on a show when these people come, but dorms are locked down so they can't interact with the women," Colby said.

'We are crammed in here like sardines'

Prison officials and inmates don't agree on much but they almost universally say that many of the prison's issues result from severe overcrowding.

Tutwiler includes a close security section and a smaller, medium-security annex. As of September 2013, 956 inmates were housed at the prison, which has a designed capacity of 545 inmates.

Bunk beds are packed into the dorms, which are overflowing with women who can nearly reach out and touch the woman in the next bed.

Last year, half a dozen women in one Tutwiler ward collaborated to draft a letter to several legislators who closely monitor the state's prison system.

"We are at 90% over capacity," the letter says. "We are crammed in here like sardines. We have no activities, no programs, no real incentives. It's a hostile environment that seems to get worse by the day Please consider re-opening some programs so we can get out of here and try to become productive members of society."

Gov. Robert Bentley and state Department of Corrections officials say they have made significant strides at Tutwiler but that it takes time to enact the necessary changes. A 58-point plan announced in January 2013 primarily focuses on broad issues such as sexual abuse, inadequate staff training and overcrowding.

The state's plan also says "institutional cleanliness will be addressed," and notes that officials are working toward the completion of shower and toilet renovations, a review of the current dietary manual and an evaluation of meal schedules.

Bobbi Finley, who was at Tutwiler from February 2011 until the summer of 2012, said more than just the showers need to be overhauled.

"They think that redoing our showers is going to help the mold and the rust and the nastiness of the prison," she said. "OK fine, fix the faucets, fix the floor but you don't have to have all these really pretty shower heads and stuff like that. Do something with that money that we really need."

Resources and rehabilitation

Most former inmates agree that women would benefit most from having more opportunities to learn a trade or take classes to further their education.

Stephanie Hibbett was incarcerated at Tutwiler for about a year. (Submitted photo)

"You're put in there for rehabilitation and you come out being 10 times worse than what you were when you went in," Stephanie Hibbett said. "Most women are back and forth. There's not a program in that place that will help rehabilitate you."

Some classes and outreach groups were eliminated under previous leadership, but Marsha Colby's friends who remain incarcerated have told her that some programs have been reinstated.

"I know they have improved the law library, and Auburn or the University of Alabama has been able to go back in and do their program," Colby said.

Tutwiler Warden Bobby Barrett has requested more adult basic education classes for inmates to attend at J.F. Ingram Technical College, which provides classes and vocational training at facilities across the state.

Adult basic education classes, which focus on basic reading, math, computer skills, English and more, prepare inmates to make the most of their vocational training. Last fall, the college added at Tutwiler a life skills training pilot program that helps women deal with authority and handle stress.

The life skills program was created for the numerous inmates who are incarcerated not because they lack education or job training, but because they couldn't manage their lives well, J.F. Ingram President Hank Dasinger said.

"(Alabamians) think that we're just a bunch of trade schools, and if we give them a good-paying job they won't commit a crime," he said. "Educational training is a secondary problem. Absent life skills training, in my belief, they could go out with a skill and really come back to prison because they still don't know how to manage their lives."

J.F. Ingram offers five vocational programs for female inmates: welding, automotive repair, office automation, cosmetology and upholstery.

"Money is the only thing that stops us from offering more services and programs to women at Tutwiler prison," Dasinger said.

Last fall, Colby spoke at an event at J.F. Ingram, and Commissioner Kim Thomas was in attendance. She spoke to him about rehabilitation.

"That might be the one thing we agree on – that these women need an education," she said. "I was floored at the amount of women who could not read and write."

What's your experience with Alabama's prison system? We want to hear your story

Note: Colby and Brooks are among the former inmates who have shared their experiences with AL.com, which is reaching out to Alabamians for a closer look at prison problems as part of the Alabama Investigative Journalism Lab.

Launched this year by Alabama Media Group, the lab encourages innovation in digital journalism and audience interaction to guide and inform reporting on complex stories. Partners in the lab include the Center for Investigative Reporting and NPR station WBHM.