Studying through Steel
Donation protected
Nature is amazing in the sense that sometimes it can produce blossoms in conditions that are most unfavorable for growth. The cactus can yield flowers in the arid desert and some plants can even bloom in the uninhabited lands of Russia. Sometimes flowers can even blossom through steel....
Halim A. Flowers happens to be one of those rare cases. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., his beginnings were planted in environments where the light did not frequent.. Unfortunately, Mr. Flowers became entangled in the weeds that choked the growth of many young men in his community in the 80's and 90's; and he became infected with the poisonous pesticides of crack cocaine and violence of that era.
At the age of sixteen (16), Mr. Flowers entered prison as an accomplice to a murder. As a juvenile, he received a life sentence with parole, cast away to the darkness of cold steel to wither away in the prison wastelands. However, we often forget that the laws of nature sometimes defy our limited human reasoning and shake our faith in the empirical evidences that support our so-called irrefutable truths.
In 1997, Halim was filmed in a documentary about minors serving time in the adult jails and prisons of Washington, D.C... The film was entitled "D.C. Thug Life" and it eventually went on to win an Emmy award for Best Original Documentary in the year of 1999. The metamorphosis began...
In 2005 and 2006, Halim had two memoir/poetry books published, "A Reason To Breathe" and "Buried Alive: Dead Men Do Talk!" Through his film and books, Halim has been able to touch the lives of many people inside and outside of the steel that attempts to confine him. He is currently in the process of working with the nonprofit organization "Think Outside The Cell" in New York City on their Civic Duty Initiative to help inmates perform do positive deeds for people in society. This Civic Duty Initiative program recently sponsored the first ever gun-buy-back funded by inmates in a New York State prison. Furthermore, Halim is planning to work with Think Outside The Cell on a book on how inmates can give back to their communities positively while serving their sentences in prison.
After obtaining his GED in prison, Halim rs was able to enroll in Cumberland County Community College for an associate's degree in business administration offered at his current facility of housing, FCI Fairton. This program allowed professors from the college to teach various courses to inmates. While taking college classes, Mr. Flowers also served as a coordinator of the D.C. Mentor Program at that facility, and became a suicide companion to inmates under watch for attempting to take their own lives.
In 2011, the associate degree program at FCI Fairton was canceled due to cuts in federal and state funding of the program. Halim applied to Ohio University (Athens) to be accepted into their specialized bachelor's degree long-distance learning program. Because he maintained a 3.8 grade average while attending Cumberland Community College, Ohio University accepted Halim's application to enroll in their program, and readily transferred all of his credits to their school.
Through his incarceration, Mr. Flowers has gained compassion and humility. By having judgment imposed upon him severely, he has lost the desire to judge others. By way of his striving to educate himself and accept responsibility for his past destructive actions, he has grown to embody contriteness. By causing others to unjustly suffer, and having suffered as a result for his own bad youthful decisions, the seed of humanity in Mr. Flowers has sprouted.
Halim does not claim to be innocent of his criminal behaviors, he does not blame the system for his failures, and he never attempts to use his environment and age at the time of his offense as an excuse for his past actions. Rather, he has come to terms with the poor choices of his past and has utilized his time in prison to transform his anti-social thinking and behaviors into a determination to help others and to educate himself. He knows that in order for him to receive mercy, forgiveness, and a second chance, he must embody the very virtues he is seeking from others.
With your contribution to his education, you will aid the growth of a young man that has dedicated his existence to bettering his surroundings and the lives of others. With your donation to help him attend another semester of classes at Ohio University, you will equip Halim with an education that will further his chances of being successfully employed and transitioning into a society that he has not seen since he was a teenager. You would also help him in his quest to aid other youth in not choosing the life of crime or embracing violence as an alternative to resolve their conflicts. Never deny the power and possibility of sincere human redemption!
"At once something like fish scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he was able to see again. He stood up and was baptized; and after he had eaten, his strength came back." (Acts Chapter 9; Verses 18-19)
Note: For verification, his college ID# is 100149798
Halim A. Flowers happens to be one of those rare cases. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., his beginnings were planted in environments where the light did not frequent.. Unfortunately, Mr. Flowers became entangled in the weeds that choked the growth of many young men in his community in the 80's and 90's; and he became infected with the poisonous pesticides of crack cocaine and violence of that era.
At the age of sixteen (16), Mr. Flowers entered prison as an accomplice to a murder. As a juvenile, he received a life sentence with parole, cast away to the darkness of cold steel to wither away in the prison wastelands. However, we often forget that the laws of nature sometimes defy our limited human reasoning and shake our faith in the empirical evidences that support our so-called irrefutable truths.
In 1997, Halim was filmed in a documentary about minors serving time in the adult jails and prisons of Washington, D.C... The film was entitled "D.C. Thug Life" and it eventually went on to win an Emmy award for Best Original Documentary in the year of 1999. The metamorphosis began...
In 2005 and 2006, Halim had two memoir/poetry books published, "A Reason To Breathe" and "Buried Alive: Dead Men Do Talk!" Through his film and books, Halim has been able to touch the lives of many people inside and outside of the steel that attempts to confine him. He is currently in the process of working with the nonprofit organization "Think Outside The Cell" in New York City on their Civic Duty Initiative to help inmates perform do positive deeds for people in society. This Civic Duty Initiative program recently sponsored the first ever gun-buy-back funded by inmates in a New York State prison. Furthermore, Halim is planning to work with Think Outside The Cell on a book on how inmates can give back to their communities positively while serving their sentences in prison.
After obtaining his GED in prison, Halim rs was able to enroll in Cumberland County Community College for an associate's degree in business administration offered at his current facility of housing, FCI Fairton. This program allowed professors from the college to teach various courses to inmates. While taking college classes, Mr. Flowers also served as a coordinator of the D.C. Mentor Program at that facility, and became a suicide companion to inmates under watch for attempting to take their own lives.
In 2011, the associate degree program at FCI Fairton was canceled due to cuts in federal and state funding of the program. Halim applied to Ohio University (Athens) to be accepted into their specialized bachelor's degree long-distance learning program. Because he maintained a 3.8 grade average while attending Cumberland Community College, Ohio University accepted Halim's application to enroll in their program, and readily transferred all of his credits to their school.
Through his incarceration, Mr. Flowers has gained compassion and humility. By having judgment imposed upon him severely, he has lost the desire to judge others. By way of his striving to educate himself and accept responsibility for his past destructive actions, he has grown to embody contriteness. By causing others to unjustly suffer, and having suffered as a result for his own bad youthful decisions, the seed of humanity in Mr. Flowers has sprouted.
Halim does not claim to be innocent of his criminal behaviors, he does not blame the system for his failures, and he never attempts to use his environment and age at the time of his offense as an excuse for his past actions. Rather, he has come to terms with the poor choices of his past and has utilized his time in prison to transform his anti-social thinking and behaviors into a determination to help others and to educate himself. He knows that in order for him to receive mercy, forgiveness, and a second chance, he must embody the very virtues he is seeking from others.
With your contribution to his education, you will aid the growth of a young man that has dedicated his existence to bettering his surroundings and the lives of others. With your donation to help him attend another semester of classes at Ohio University, you will equip Halim with an education that will further his chances of being successfully employed and transitioning into a society that he has not seen since he was a teenager. You would also help him in his quest to aid other youth in not choosing the life of crime or embracing violence as an alternative to resolve their conflicts. Never deny the power and possibility of sincere human redemption!
"At once something like fish scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he was able to see again. He stood up and was baptized; and after he had eaten, his strength came back." (Acts Chapter 9; Verses 18-19)
Note: For verification, his college ID# is 100149798
Organizer
Halim Flowers
Organizer
Fairton, NJ