By Catherine Claire|Published Date: June 02, 2009
Diverse paths converge at the Philadelphia Ex-Offender Aftercare Program
Addicted to misery and clutching a thick wad of twenties in his coat pocket, repeat offender Steven Gass stumbles down 19th Street. Word on the street: Omar Shabazz is back in South Philly from his stay in a California prison, and “the man’s got a terrible package.”
In Central Philly, Irene Mitchell turns on the evening news. “A young African-American male shot nine times and left dead.” Irene responds as any mother would, with horror and a prayer for the poor mother who lost her son. What Irene does not know is that she is that mother and the boy is her son. Nor does Irene know that just a few years and a few blocks away, she will become the spiritual mother to released prisoners just like her son’s murderer.
