Released from jail into a world of Pandemia!

Well I am aware that Pandemia is not a word yet... but the state of the world upon my release from incarceration this last April could only be described as such. The Pandemic and the mania etc. was a bit surreal. I mean toilet paper shortages?!? Come on is it really that serious? It sure seems that It is. Or is that all just the media blowing all of this out of proportion to distract the public from something else?

I have no earthly idea honestly, but I will tell you this much, When I was released at 2:30 a.m. in San Antonio Texas in April 2020 and had to walk from the jail to a friends house for approx. an hr. it sure did seem as though the town was close to empty. San Antonio is never that calm and dead. The next morning the place still looked like Christmas morning. I was shocked that's for sure. The shock quickly turned to disgust though because not only was everything conveniently going much faster with my criminal charges and what not but all the city and government establishments were all closed also. All no essential businesses were shut down and the community was told they must not be out unless it was an essential trip.

Anyway, I was arrested in January 2020 on a warrant for a felony forgery charge out of San Antonio that I was on deferred adjudication for when I caught the Travis county charge 4 years ago. I was convicted March 26th, 2020 for the San Antonio charge and then convicted October 9th for the Travis County forgery charge. I know that sounds really bad because the convictions took place this year but let me go back and explain please.... The San Antonio charge was allegedly committed over 6 years ago, I was given probation and then when I couldn't adhere to the terms I ran. Then 2 years later while still on the run I allegedly committed another forgery. Let me clarify that the first charge I will admit I was in the wrong. I knowingly used a fake temporary id with a friends information instead of mine to cash her legitimate 401k check because we were trying to make rent money and she lost her id so she couldn't cash it and we were desperate. DUMB!! However the second one, and I should have known better with all the drama from the first one, I accepted 2 personal checks for a contract job I had done off of craigslist. As it turns out the 2 checks I was paid with had been washed by someone not the owner of the account and given to me as payment. On top of the being screwed out of payment for services already provided I myself and my husband who cashed the second check while I was a work, were both charged with a new forgery felony, AND they belonged to an elderly woman on top of it all!

So yea that being said I am now a 2 time felon convicted this year. I was released during the nation wide shutdown on April 6th. Everything was sooo much different than when I had been arrested just a few months prior. The only places that were open were gas stations and grocery stores etc. I was soo excited to finally be able to get an id and get a job, reentry programs are abundant I hear. But NO ONE answered the phone at all these places listed in the Travis County Reentry handbook. On top of that my Integral care caseworker just stopped checking in on us as soon as my psych evaluation determined that I am not in need of psychiatric medication and am not using drugs. I cant get any help because I am not crazy enough or on drugs is the general consensus.

The worst thing about all this is that I have a now 14 month old daughter who I was still breast feeding when I was arrested in January. since I got out of jail I have not been allowed to see her in person not once. I am unable to get a job that will support us because the reentry programs are not essential businesses. No one will rent to me because in black and white I look really bad on paper! I am outraged! I was outraged at the prevention steps that were not being taken at all in the jails as well so I started writing news companies trying to get someone to do something because the jails are a hotbed for the virus. That quickly turned into publicity about the failing reentry systems and inability to get any help now that I can and actually want to get my life together.

I was a ward of the state of Texas Foster system from the age of 13 to 18 years old. I know firsthand what it is like to be in the system. I went to 26 different high schools in and around San Antonio, Tx, moved every 3 weeks to 3 months my entire adolescence basically. I was abused by foster fathers, mothers, siblings, other youth, I was told constantly to quit acting out and lying. I had no voice and was very afraid, since they kept telling me that I was acting out I started doing so and running away. I would never wish foster care on even my worst enemy... To be continued...