Gift of time

Inmate moms share precious moments with their kids

STORY SUMMARY »

More than 40 women prison inmates received an early Mother's Day gift yesterday -- extra time to spend with their children at an outdoor Kids' Day event.

Children, and for the first time grandchildren, get an extended visit four to five times a year, mostly around holidays.

Women's Community Correctional Center Warden Mark Patterson said the visits help maintain the bond between mother and child.

The inmates say the visits give them an incentive not to return to prison.

"It's hard to just spend 15 minutes on the phone with them every other day," said Lillian Hussein, who is serving time for identity theft.

"It puts in my head to be better when I go out there. It's not worth having my family take the time to come out here to visit me," said Marian Cummings, who is serving time for drug possession.

"I love him," Cummings said of her 2-year-old grandson Logan. "He's such a joy."

---

FULL STORY »

Just before inmate Lillian Hussein began talking about her life in prison, her 9-year-old daughter Daphnei brushed her cheek and advised, "Don't cry, mommy."

Hussein cried anyway as she recalled her battle with meth addiction and her thoughts of time still left to be served for identity theft.

She also cried because of the support Daphnei and her 11-year-old son Dylan gave her yesterday during a Kids' Day celebration at the Women's Community Correctional Center.

"It's hard to just spend 15 minutes on the phone with them every other day," said Hussein, who has been at the facility for two years and isn't up for parole until 2026. "Programs like this are important. For now, all I can do is live for the day."

The event, timed to coincide a day before Mother's Day, was coordinated by Keiki O Ka Aina Family Learning Centers. It is one of only four or five occasions during the year that children are allowed extended visits to be with their mothers during a holiday, said warden Mark Patterson.

"There's two sides of this," Patterson said. "It provides release for the offenders from their daily routine. ... And we also to want to maintain that social bond between mother and child."

The Kids' Day program allows children under 12 to visit their mothers at the facility for four hours of outdoor playtime, barbecues and games. More than 40 women and their children and grandchildren participated yesterday. Marines dropped off presents from their Toys for Tots donations for the children.

Yesterday was the first time grandchildren were allowed to visit, which allowed 41-year-old Marian Cummings to be with her 2-year-old grandson Logan.

"I love him, he's such a joy," said Cummings, who is serving time for drug possession. "It puts it in my head to be better when I go out there. It's not worth having my family take the time to come out here to visit me."

While the children and their mothers ate the barbecue lunch, 39-year-old Tawny Okemura caught up with her 10-year-old daughter Chloe. The two sat on a beach mat several feet away from the lunch line.

They talked about whether Chloe is still having trouble with her math homework and how her track meets are goingl.

"As she gets older, she has more and more things to do so she gets pretty busy," said Okemura, who has served nearly three years for drug possession and is expected to be released in September.

"I would love it if this was exactly every three months," she said. "I don't think people understand. When you're in here, you're so far away from your family and your kids. It's really hard to be a parent behind bars."