Help Bring Robert Lilly Home

Our dear friend Robert Lilly — who has given so much to the Austin advocacy community — has been granted parole and will return to Austin later this year or in early 2023 after completing a mandatory drug treatment class in prison.

It was only because of Robert’s resilience, self-advocacy, and broad supportive community that he was granted parole on his first attempt. It is also this community that will make Robert’s reentry successful.

We are collecting funds to help Robert land in Austin and contribute to his ability to pay for housing, transportation, sobriety and mental health care, and basic supplies for his first several months as he gets his feet under him.

As you can see from Robert’s words below, his community is one of the things that will keep Robert grounded. Please give what you can, and we look forward to celebrating Robert's return with you this fall.

A note from Robert

Dear supporters:

Greetings to you all, from my barnacoon, a state provided social coffin.

Now that we have accomplished this most monumental milestone, it is all but impossible for me not to think back to my last time releasing from a state paid exile. I had never achieved anything like long term wellness e.g. sobriety and sustaining my freedom would be essential to any vision I imagined. In prison, I wrote down my hopes and my plans; my ideal imaginations for life, but once released those plans were put off.

In addition to there being no real help from the state, my social and physical environs were not conducive to success. I was assisted by my eighty-something year old dad, to live with my brother, in an apartment behind the structure of his house. Upon arriving I quickly learned my brother was chemically dependent, mentally ill, in a state of, what I now believe to be, catatonia. As if that were not enough, my aged father, bless him, as much as he tried to be of support to my brother, count not keep on the water, lights or gas!

Within a year my brother would be found dead by my father, on his apartment floor, from an overdose of cocaine. I learned how real and precarious the life of a person in poverty is.

Upon release this time, I hope to support myself and family with a living wage. I see myself returning to the advocacy field of non-profit work. I have higher education on my radar (law school or paralegal). I want to secure specific skills focused on peer support models. And I plan to center all my visions around my need to maintain and sustain long-term recovery.

I'm asking you to assist me in achieving these, and other objectives by raising, for me, at least six months to a year of financial "aid" to supplement my needs until I secure a job and set my feet down solidly.

I am very clear, today, that I cannot reassemble my life alone. I need help and thus I am asking for yours. Please note: I do not feel entitled to or owed anything. Your friendship and support are so valued.

Reentry from prison back into society is just like being placed on the starters block of a race; getting to the finish line requires far more than being placed in the race; it takes an entire team. With that said, this message is not just for Robert’s Village. It's for all the folk that Robert’s Village can connect this message to and who believe in second chances and who are willing to financially support a returning prisoner. I envision this message being broadcast far and wide and in the hopes that with larger numbers and reasonable contributions we can exceed the requested amount.

In closing, the new lease I have been given obliges me to be considerate of so many others, who have invested in me and in my human hopes. I sincerely thank you all.

May this letter be received by you in excellent health. And may your days of service on this earth be fruitful and fulfilling.

In solidarity,

Your brother Rob.

Robert’s Homecoming Fund

Eye glasses — $275

Gas card — $200

Uber gift card — $100

Gift card for clothes and shoes — $600

Phone bill — $200

Rent/Housing for 3-4 months — $5,000

Hygiene — $175

Renew License — $15

Day Planner — $50

Food (in lieu of food stamps) — $550

Bicycle — Donation if possible

Bus passes — $100

Upgraded laptop $300

Total $7,565