Hope behind bars at Craggy Correctional Center

ASHEVILLE - The Hunter children wanted to tell their dad everything Saturday morning.

For most, it had been months since they last saw him. They had news to deliver.

Caleb had mastered his BMX bike. No more falls – and he's just 7. Harlee lost a tooth the day before. The tooth fairy left $2, not bad for an 11-year-old.

Jeremiah had a new girlfriend. The blushing 12-year-old met her on the school bus.

And 15-year-old Alexis had a new pet guinea pig. She named it Peanut.

As they drove to Craggy Correctional Center, Buncombe County's mixed minimum- and medium-security men's prison, the younger ones could hardly stay in their seats.

"I think I see daddy," yelled Harlee, as the van pulled up to the barbed wire gate. Several men, all dressed the same – khaki pants, green belts, white tennis shoes and T-shirts – stood in the yard on the other side of the fence. Some played basketball. Some lifted weights. Others just sat and waited.

"There's daddy," she said, squishing her face to the van window, pointing so her siblings could see.

There are 590 inmates at Craggy prison – two-thirds of whom are fathers.

For the men, the opportunity to not only see, but hug and kiss their children while incarcerated gives them hope.

"I'm always thinking about (my children) and what's going on in their lives," said Justin Hunter, 35, of Hendersonville. "Them showing up means they still haven't forgotten about me."

A habitual felon, Hunter has been convicted of stealing guns, cars and credit cards. He is an addict and an alcoholic who is facing more than 10 years behind bars. By his scheduled release date, his first daughter will be an adult.

The children of inmates are a forgotten part of society, said the Rev. Rick Sawyer, executive director of Hope Network of the Carolinas, a nonprofit partnering with Buncombe County Health and Human Services to strengthen the bond between prisoners and their children. "At the state level, nobody is addressing the needs of children with incarcerated parents."

Often victims of immense trauma, the children of inmates live their lives at risk, Sawyer said. They are more likely to have problems with drugs, alcohol and teenage pregnancy. The goal is to build family ties and stop the cycle of incarceration.

"These kids, for no fault of their own, are stripped of a parent," he added. "We're trying to mitigate that trauma."

Hope Network of the Carolinas

An Asheville native, Sawyer started his work in Buncombe County in 2010. The CEO of Hope for Miami, a Florida-based nonprofit serving more than 3,500 families and children in Miami-Dade County, Sawyer wanted to expand his outreach to his hometown. He spent years talking with area service providers to see what voids his group could fill.

Guided by Christian values, Hope Network of the Carolinas was incorporated as a nonprofit last year. Its first major project has been piloting Hope for Families of Inmates, the partnership with Craggy Correctional Center. The work is based off Sawyer's implementation of similar programs in Florida.

There, years of partnerships have allowed busloads of children to visit their parents in prison. In Buncombe County, the program remains small. On Saturday, just a few vans headed out for the quarterly visit to the facility in North Asheville.

There are 13 families involved, but prison officials say that after each visit, more incarcerated men want to sign up.

"Inmates got to have some sort of hope," said Richard Terry, superintendent at Craggy Correctional Center, who once supervised a son, father and grandfather all in the same facility.

"Ninety-five percent (of inmates) statewide will be released in the future. Connecting with their families, that's a first step to break the family connection of coming to prison."

"Part of the program, I see as a benefit to the kids themselves, but also as a benefit to our fathers here," Terry said. "They are able to touch their kids and play with their children, to see that there is something else in life other than robbing and stealing."

Hope for Families of Inmates

On Saturday, the fathers enrolled in Hope for Families of Inmates were able to meet with their children in the prison recreational center. Unlike normal visitation, they were allowed physical contact throughout morning. Inmates were told to focus on the children, to leave family fights and adult problems behind for the afternoon.

The dads were happy to oblige. They gleefully threw their children in air, stroked their young daughters' hair, held their sons tight on their laps and chased wild toddlers around the room. Together with their children, parents, wives and partners, they painted masks and enjoyed pizza, a meal the inmates were just as excited about as the children.

Families showed the prisoners photographs from home, while the dads showed their kids how to fold paper airplanes. For a brief moment, the fathers were free to be the parents they wanted.

Justin Hunter consoled his teenage daughter after a fight with her brother brought her to tears. He rolled up the sleeves on his youngest children so they didn't get paint on their clothing. He patiently listened to each child, making sure all got the attention they were due.

"He was a good dad," said Alexis, of her father. "He's fun to be around. He makes us smile and laugh a lot."

Despite being in prison, the Hunters relaxed into their familiar family rhythm within minutes. Alexis became Lexi and Jeremiah became J.J.

Caleb, the youngest, snuggled in on his dad's lap. Harlee gave her father a card she drew while waiting for the vans. On it, she and her dad wore matching clothes while standing under the stars.

"This program lets these kids know their dad is not a bad person," said Sawyer. "The dads know that someone on the outside cares."

Shortly after lunch, the children and their families were forced to say goodbye to their fathers. The gate locked behind them with a loud buzz.

Before going home, Hope Network of the Carolinas hosted a social gathering. The debriefing and play helps kids process the morning and sends the family home on a happy note, Sawyer said.

Saturday, they were headed to a farm in Weaverville, where they were promised s'mores and a campfire.

Groups are always coming to Craggy wanting to do outreach, said Terry, the prison superintendent. Yet none, except for Hope Network of the Carolinas, are trying so hard to connect with the children of inmates both inside and outside the system.

"Usually, these kids see will see their fathers in the penitentiary and think it's the norm," he said.

Hope for children

Five million U.S. children have had at least one parent imprisoned — about one in every 14 children under the age of 18, according to a new report released Tuesday by Child Trends, a national research organization focused on the well-being of children.

There are few programs nationwide dealing with the children of inmates, despite a significant need, said David Murphey, senior research scientist at Child Trends and lead author of "Parents Behind Bars: What Happens to Their Children."

Children of incarcerated parents deal with conflicting emotions of shame, stigma and trauma, putting them at increased risk of behavior problems, academic failure, low self-esteem and substance abuse, said Murphey. Though some may end up following in their parents' footsteps and entering the criminal justice system themselves, attention should be focused on how these children are treated in everyday life.

Children of inmates are often exposed to trauma beyond their parents being imprisoned, such as substance abuse, domestic violence and divorce, Murphey said. "We need to intervene early," he added. "We need to acknowledge how many children are suffering from this sort of trauma and have people working with them who are informed about this issue, who can prevent retraumatization and use programs that are designed to be sensitive and responsive."

Prison systems, schools and communities could do more, Murphey argued. There are ways to improve communication between the inmate and their child such as making prisons more welcoming to visitors.

"The prison environment can be so intimidating to children. Anything you can do to normalize the parent-child relation and keep it from being dominated by scary images of prison, that's going to be good for the kids," he said. "These parents are going to be coming back to their communities and families and we want to make sure that we are doing everything to help them be the best they can."

The Hunter children had their first visit with Hope Network of the Carolinas on Saturday. They have two different moms who don't get along and so they don't get to spend much time playing with each other. The children's grandparents are trying to bring the family together, despite the confines of their son's incarceration.

"I just don't want the cycle to continue," said their grandmother P. Lucy Hunter, 60. "More than anything, I want them to know that despite all of (their dad's) mistakes he loves them dearly."

"I know he loves them very much," she reiterated. "But, he's powerless. He can't do anything about it for himself, so I try."

Justin Hunter has missed cheerleading meets and soccer matches. He didn't see the time Alexis got to march with the high school ROTC on the football field, or when Caleb learned to ride his BMX bike.

He missed funny moments, too, added Harlee. Like the time the family's pig chased the dog around the yard. "We just have to talk, and talk, and talk to him," she said before the morning visit. "The most important thing is to say we love him."