The Grandmother Who Accommodates Prisoners

Categories:

• Solidarity
• Society

by Sam Soilihi

Posted on May 31, 2019

For over 40 years, Ángeles Pérez has been visiting prisoners and offering them a place to stay when on a temporary absence or at the end of their sentence. A much need step to help them in their reinsertion.

It all started in the 80's in Madrid, when the criminality rate was high because of drugs and imprisonment conditions were harsh. The main question that these prisoners asked themselves was concerning the future, what were they going to do once they get out. And that type of questioning is still valid for prisoners today all around the world. That is what Ángeles Pérez realised when she volunteered to visit the prison that was next to the church, at the preacher's proposition.

Today she is the president of an association which helps prisoners in their reinsertion by not only providing a place to stay in her building of 6 floors and 43 beds, but also social support thanks to a psychologist and an educater along with her 8 other volunteers. Together, they all help these people in getting a stable life back by encouraging them to study and work in order to avoid repeating an offence, something that is most likely to happen when ex-prisoners cannot get back on their feet.

Now she has welcomed and helped more than a thousand prisoners that are greatful for her. With her, they feel that they are being treated humanely and they thank her by keeping contact with her to inform her of their new lives and sometimes even inviting her to their weddings. From drug traffickers to bank robbers, she has seen them all but she claims that she's not a judge so no matter what they did, she is willing to assist them. In order to help these people, she not only knows every prison in Madrid and frequently visits them, but she's also visited other big cities' prisons to seek those in need of her help.