Testimonials

“Taking Care of Our Own” is the reason I joined the Corrections Foundation. I liked the fact that it is a non-profit organization and most of the money raised went where it should go, to the people who need it. I never actually thought that I would be one of those people.

Then I got the call out of every parents worst nightmare, my daughter had been involved in a very serious car accident and had been taken to Shands. I was in Texas for my Grandmother’s funeral, so you can imagine how horrified I was to be 1,000 miles away, not knowing what was going on. All I knew was that my baby was in bad shape, in a lot of pain and I wasn’t there. To say the least, I was on the first plane I could get to out of Dallas.

I didn’t find out just how serious the accident was until I finally made it to the hospital. Her back was broken, 4 vertebrae had been all but crushed and there was a better than 50/50 chance she would be paralyzed from the waist down. She had been thrown from the vehicle, which had flipped end over end at least 6 times. We did a lot of praying. It is still a long road to recovery.

My Assistant Warden, Lee Colson, suggested asking the Corrections Foundation for help. At the time, I never even thought of it. My financial situation was not at the top of my list of priorities then. He made sure the necessary paperwork was filled out for the request and filed. I was surprised at how quickly the Foundation responded.

Until you are in a situation such as mine, you don’t realize how much it means for someone to extend that helping hand.

To all of you who donate to the Corrections Foundation, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You were there for me when I needed it the most.

Suprenna Ard
Recruitment Supervisor
Lancaster C.I.

On March 18, 2004 my husband, Thomas, was diagnosed with prostate cancer.On August 10, 2004 we went to Birmingham, Alabama to UAB and he had surgery.

Since then we have been fighting the worst battle of our lives, both emotionally and financially. But when things were really getting bad we found hope through faith, friends and the foundation.

Today my husband is still in a lot of pain and we make many trips back to Birmingham.
But knowing that there are people and organizations like the foundation has helped us to keep the faith.

When I was called to the warden’s office and given a check from the foundation, it came at such an important time as we had to make the trip in a day or two and did not have the funds for gas, food, hotel room, etc.My husband could not believe that the foundation helped us.No one knew us.

Our heartfelt thanks to the foundation and the help it has given our family.

Lt. Pat Coco
Okaloosa Work Camp

On Friday, May 5, 2006, I received a check you sent to assist us. My wife and I want to thank you for your consideration and approval of our request for assistance during her sickness.

When I joined the Department of Corrections as a Chaplain and became a member of the Foundation, everything was going well in my life. Never did I expect to be one that would come and request assistance from you. It thrilled me when I read the reports of your coming to the aid of various families when their difficulty had come to them.

However, when my wife was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia two years ago and the two treatments prescribed for her failed to be successful, I knew we were facing major adjustments in our lives. Then when we were told that the only possible cure would be a bone-marrow transplant, my concerns were heightened.

Now because of your kindness and the generosity of many employees of the Department of Corrections many of my concerns have been lifted immensely.

It is an honor to work in a department that is aware that their employees will face unseen circumstances and have provided a means to assist them.

Also, to all the employees who give to the Foundation, I could never be able to express my gratitude sufficiently.

Therefore, as simple as it is, thank you and God bless you.

Chaplain Larry Skipper
Polk CI

I’d like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to the Corrections Foundation for all that they have recently done for me.

Without getting into a lot of detail, I was recently diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer and ended up loosing an eye to it. With the grace of God, many prayers, a positive attitude and a strong support system both at home and at work, I’ve made it through the first hurdle with flying colors.

Because of the Foundation and its generosity, if you didn’t know that I had lost an eye, you’d never know it now. The donation that I received from the Foundation has allowed me to complete the healing process as well as assisted me and my family to cover the mounting medical bills associated with the testing process and prosthesis. It would have taken me months to save enough money to pay for the eye, but thanks to the Foundation I now have a very realistic prosthetic.

I have worked with the Department of Corrections for 20 years and previously with two other State agencies and none can compare with the Department of Corrections and all that they do for its staff. I know that the Foundation is there for all DC employees and because of the good that the Foundation does for staff in times of need, I will continue to support the Foundation both financially and in spirit.

Please extend my sincere appreciation and thank you to all those that had a part in the decision making process of approving the assistance.

Ms. Anita Mitchell, Executive Secretary
Probation & Parole, Community Corrections

I have never been placed in a position where I have needed the support of the foundation and for that I am incredibly thankful. I have, however, seen many people in the throws of tragedy benefit from the foundation. Two friends and co-workers lost their homes and all their possessions to fires. One friend and co-worker lost a husband. Another has suffered though a long terminal illness and is waiting for a family member to die. All have received support from the foundation. I thank God daily that I have not had to walk in their shoes, but I am glad that I have had the privilege of being a small part of the help offered through the foundation.

Many people contributeeach pay period to the United Way campaign and do not dress casual for their contribution. Those contributions help many people outside our agency. Allcontributions to the foundationare used to lend support toour own. I hope we never lose sight of helping our own.

Donna Hoffman, Inspector Supervisor
Statewide Use of Force Unit, Central Office

On behalf of my wife, Sergeant JoAnne Zamarron, I am honored to express our sincere thanks to the Corrections Foundation for your generosity during our recent medical crisis.

JoAnne’s emergency on November 8th resulted in four hospital admissions and seven surgical procedures. However, I am please to inform you that for the 14th consecutive day, she is resting and recovering – at home.

Although her rehabilitation will be lengthy and difficult at times, we anticipate that she’s on her way to a complete recovery. She is already anxious to resume her career and work again with the many people she’s come to know and care for in the past 10 years.

Doctors call her a miracle. I don’t disagree, but I firmly believe that the power and strength of the “extended family” that exists within the Florida Department of Corrections should never be underestimated. That kind of genuine support allows miracles to happen! The prayers, cards, calls, and visits – from all across this great state – really did make a difference.

Words can’t adequately describe how you’ve touched our lives. With a negative experience we learned a very positive, valuable lesson in understanding what the Foundation really stands for. We wish we could share that newfound knowledge with everyone we meet.

This was more than a generous donation from a faceless foundation. We’d like to personally thank Mr. Wainwright for his selfless vision, enabling each of us to share in a precious gift; the ability to help others without expectation of individual thanks or reward. In our case, after the doctor bills are paid, the feeling of being a part of something so rewarding and so important to so many others will stay with us the rest of our lives.

Your demonstration of support was unexpected and overwhelming. Every individual who is part of the Corrections Foundation should be very proud of their involvement. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank each of you.

Major Dennis C. Havelick and Sergeant JoAnne Zamaron
Central Florida Reception Center

…My 15-month old daughter Felicity has had a rough time with her health.

When they hospitalized her this last time I thought my world had crumbled. I thought to myself, how am I going to afford all these medical bills and the usual monthly bills while I am on leave without pay? I then turned to my fellow co-workers to get in touch with the foundation for me.

I received a Foundation envelope from my Bureau Chief yesterday. (I was too scared to open it. I feared that if I opened it, it would say request denied and then I still would not be able to pay our bills or even take my daughter to the specialist). Ms. Denmark broke my train of thought when she told me to make sure I write a thank you letter to the Foundation. I looked up and a smile came to my face. I opened the envelope, my eyes got wide, and my mouth dropped. I thought I had been denied. This is too good to be true. To be honest with you I could not make our light bill this past month, our electricity was turned off yesterday as a result of me not being able to work while my daughter was ill.

I thank everyone from the bottom of my heart, who took the time to help my family. I appreciate this so much. I can pay off our hospital debt and our overdue bills now. I even have enough for me to start taking my baby to the specialist….

Jennifer King, Staff Assistant
Program Transition & Post-release Services, Central Office

I wanted to let you know that my family and I are so grateful to the Corrections Foundation for the assistance they gave us after our tragic loss in 2001. To lose our grandchildren was the most devastating thing we’ve ever had to go through, but our Correctional Family and the Corrections Foundation were there in an instant to help us out. Beyond the need for prayers and food in such a crisis is the reality of the financial need. We could never repay the generosity that the Foundation bestowed on our family in our time of need.

It really saddens me to think this Foundation may suffer simply because people can’t wear denim. If only we could reach out and help our fellow employees understand that at any moment it could be them that may need the help. Even more than that, if they could know the joy in knowing that they have touched someone’s life and helped to ease their burden or their pain, I can’t help but believe that they would give gladly. It’s such a small amount individually, but it accomplishes so very much collectively.

My husband and I have increased our donation, and will do so again this year. My prayer is that the generous spirit I know exists in this department will override the desire to get one’s way and wear jeans on Friday. If my husband and I can ever help in any way, please feel free to call on us at any time. We really believe in the Corrections Foundation and the good it does.

Sherry Turner, who at the time she received assistance was a Word Processing Systems Operator at P&P 16-1, Marathon. Ms. Turner is now a Secretary Specialist at Lancaster CI.

My wife and I were told in October of 2005 that our two year old daughter had a cancerous tumor on her optic nerves. Several operations were performed on her head and brain.

We were subsequently in pediatric ICU for approximately a month at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola. As a result we incurred numerous medical bills and lodging expenses. The financial support we received from the Corrections Foundation made a difficult situation better.

They were there when we needed them.

To the Corrections Foundation, my family and I say, “THANK YOU.”

Todd Hornsby, Correctional Probation Officer
Panama City West, 14-0

On August 31, 2005 I went out on sick leave due to being in pre-term labor. My son was not due to be born until November 17, 2005. My labor was stopped and I was placed on bed rest.

On October 17th I was rushed into an emergency C-section due to my son being in distress. My son was born 4 ½ weeks early and suffered from severe respiratory distress.

During the delivery I suffered from a large amount of blood loss and was on the edge of death myself. My blood pressure was 22 over 16 and I had to have blood transfusions. My son was transported from Alachua General Hospital to Shands at UF and placed in NICU-3. He was treated for respiratory distress and irregular heart rate.

I exhausted all of my leave at this time and my husband was also off of work during this time because I was unable to care for myself. We returned to work 6 weeks after the baby was born.

I was off of work a total of 14 weeks. The Corrections Foundation gave us $1500.00 to assist us. If it was not for my husband taking this check and taking care of the bills and saving the remainder my five (5) children would not have had a Christmas. I give a heartfelt THANK YOU!!!!!!!

It is my opinion that each and every Correctional Officer should join the Foundation and help them to support all of those in need. Corrections should be a family and this is one way families help out. Remember, you never know what tomorrow holds.

Ingram and Marti McCord
Correctional Officers at FSP and Lawtey C.I.

I am just writing to let you know that I received the check from the Foundation as well as a nice letter showing concern for my daughter. She came through her surgery fine and is well on her way to recovery. I have gladly been a member of the Foundation and never thought that I would need assistance. Let me say that I can not thank you enough for the help. I was at my wits end trying to figure out how I was going to be able to pay the co-payment for the surgery and still be able to cover everything else. The Foundation has been a God send for me and I now truly know that “We Never Walk Alone”. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart and God Bless.

Teresa A. Kirkland, CO
Lawtey Correctional Institution