Gillian Engle with her two children, Nevaeh and Nikko, who reside at Astoria house.

JP's Story

It was a bitter cold January day in 1995 when JP walked out of Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, after spending 10 years in prison. She had just received clemency from the Governor and would not need to serve the minimum 15 year sentence for drug possession. (She was sentenced under the harsh Rockefeller Drug Laws). At the time of her arrest, 10 years earlier, JP was offered one year but she didn't accept the bargain because she was fearful of incarceration…..and she knew she was innocent. So, she chose a jury trial. After being found guilty, the judge was mandated to sentence her to 15 years to life. With that sentence, her life stopped – she was now in chains on a bus heading to an upstate prison –more fearful now than she had ever been on the streets of Brooklyn where she grew up. She was 19 years old.

Finally free, JP walked out of prison with a big smile filled with optimism, and a Bachelor's Degree that she received while incarcerated. But she had no place to go. Home was not safe because friends and family were still using drugs. She knew she wouldn't have a chance of success. After hearing about Hour Children from an advocate, she made the right decision and came to live at Hour Children – eager to begin the life she dreamed about during those 10 years lost to her during incarceration.

But even for JP, with a college degree and winning personality, the road was hard. The barriers that she faced in locating employment and moving into the mainstream, taught Hour Children, firsthand, what women would need to successfully transition back to society and to family. (It was just about the time of JP's release that Hour Children redefined its mission to include assistance to formerly incarcerated women in addition to their children).

In 2004, nine years after her release, JP received her Masters Degree in Social Work from Hunter College and is working and residing in New York City .