The IF Project

It Started with a Question

“If there was something someone could have said or done that would have changed the path that led you here, what would it have been?”

Detective Kim Bogucki posed this question to a group of prisoners at the Washington Correction Center for Women. Initially, it was just posed randomly to the group and inspired some discussion. On her next visit to WCCW, Detective Bogucki was surprised to find this question had incited great inspiration with one inmate, Renata Abramson. Renata had taken it upon herself to share this question with her fellow prisoners.
She asked them to take time, really consider the question and write down what they felt. The question had sparked something in them. Not just a desire to search themselves to find what could have changed their own lives, but a larger desire to impart this information to help others. Through them, we will search for answers as to how to break the chain of felonies that have brought them all here, in the hopes of preventing others from doing the same. To date, we have collected over 240 essays.

Just had to copy their words! They said it so well, I didn't want to lose a single breath of the heart and compassion written here. A friend recently told me about this project and it really resonated with me. I feel like I have met a lot of people who wanted a better life for themselves, and one thing or another, external or internal, mental or physical, it didn't happen. I always wonder - where was the tipping point? [I probably need to read Malcolm Gladwell's novel]. The second thought that comes to mind is, are these things reversible? How easy is it to change the direction of a path? And, can it be done alone?