Will Soper was first arrested at the age of eleven, defending himself against the man who was his step-father. This was not the first time Will had been sexually abused, but it was the first time he fought back and sadly his mother took his stepfather's side.  Despite the toxicity of the family, he was never given any mental health or other counseling and was continually sent back to his mother and stepfather when the foster care system failed him. Will’s abusive upbringing led to a justice involved life, culminating in the sexual assault of a person he knew.  Now at 42, Will is finally out of prison and free of parole, but his time served and a personal apology to his victim cannot wipe away his sexual assault charge from his record. In Will’s own words, ‘…all I want to do is just work, even if it means washing dishes, I don’t care….I can’t go back to jail, I’d rather hold court in the street…’.

The Hustler Files Ep. 71 - The Sins of the Stepfather

When you leave jail, there isn't much you take with you, so to receive a backpack filled with shampoo, conditioner, socks, female hygiene items, snacks, water, and other items can feel, as one formerly incarcerated individual, like Christmas.  Most ideas to help less fortunate, others, have the commonality of being hatched at a kitchen table, and LOVE In A Backpack is no different. When St. John’s Episcopal Church member, Susan Todd’s daughter, Nell, was assessing the needs of those leaving incarceration, a backpack filled with necessary items and a personalized letter of encouragement, seemed to fill the bill. Since its inception, LOVE In A Backpack has supplied over 600 backpacks to incarcerated women, leaving jail, in Western Massachusetts.  According to Jenny Wildermuth, Outreach Coordinator at St. John’s, there is ALWAYS a need for more backpacks and backpack-filling events.  They also encourage other churches and congregations across the US to replicate their mission of LOVE and HOPE.

The Hustler Files Ep. 86- LOVE In A Backpack Is Like A Warm Hug

Podcasts from all of the local show on WHMP Radio in Northampton, MA. including Talk the Talk with Bill Newman and Buz Eisenberg, The Hustler Files, The Western Mass Business Show, and Panorama.

New tracks tagged #Correctional,