Wilmarie

Wilmarie is a 23-year-old woman who’s spent one-third of her life behind bars. But you’d never guess that second part. She bears little resemblance to the woman she once was. Today, she’s a college student, an intern at a law firm and a friend to fellow women in need.  

She attributes her turnaround to Hour Children, a nonprofit organization that provides housing and services to incarcerated (and formerly incarcerated) women and their children.

“I’m a totally different person now,” she says. “I did a 360 in a matter of six months.”

Those six months began in 2010, when Wilmarie ended an eight-year stretch of incarceration. She emerged from prison to a world that seemed foreign and beyond her grasp. Desperate, she attended a talk on supportive housing, in hopes of meeting someone who could help her. She met Johanna Flores, Hour Children’s employment coordinator. Both Johanna and Sister Tesa Fitzgerald, the organization’s executive director, saw great potential in her. And so Wilmarie became the first woman without a child to enter Hour Children.

She was immediately struck by the organization’s warm, inviting environment.

“It felt like a home,” she says. “It felt like people were together to help and support you.”

With a safe place to call home, Marie soon started a path to self-betterment. She became an administrative intern, first for Johanna and then for Hour Children’s main office. She concurrently enrolled in the Hour Working Women Program, where she learned to use computer programs like Microsoft Excel and Outlook.

By 2011, armed with new skills, Wilmarie enrolled at LaGuardia Community College, where she continues to take computer and paralegal courses. She also earned an internship with the Children’s Law Center in Queens. She hopes to become a paralegal, but, as the last six months have taught her, the future remains wide open with possibilities.

“I’m getting experiences that I never thought I’d have,” she says. “Eight years ago, I couldn’t picture me going to college or working with lawyers. I’m grateful for Hour Children. I’m grateful for the staff here, and I’m grateful for the support.”

Want to see your tenant's story on our website? Contact us!