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" Everyone needs a place to live. Everyone needs a place to come home to every night. I don't understand why our society, our government, can think that you can lock a person away for months or years... and then release them back after they pay their debt without any support and expect it to be okay. "

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" Many times, I left the prison thinking, 'I'm smart. I can make it. I won't get caught up again.' But you get off downtown Skid Row, and you're a target for all of the environmental harms in that area. The pain and trauma in that area is so thick, you can almost reach your hand out and touch it. "

Susan Burton

Smart

Thinking

Environmental

" We're willing to spend countless dollars putting people who need help in cages, and then when they get out we say you can't have a job, and you can't have housing, and because you don't have either, we're going to take your kids, too. "

" If you don't have a new door to walk through, the only thing is the old door. "

" Each time I left prison, I left with the resolve to get my life together, to get a job, to get back on track. And each time, the task became more and more and more daunting. "

" Nothing good could ever have come of my life if I hadn't been able to get therapy and overcome my addictions. "

" After six prison commitments, at the end of those, I was more broken than when I went into the system. "

" Most incarcerated women have stories that are similar to mine. They suffered great trauma as children. "

" I knew I wasn't born to be caged and chained up. "

Susan Burton

Caged

Chained

" It has to be about more than punishment. We need to rehabilitate people. We lock up far too many people in America today. We lock them up as if locking them up is gonna solve the problem. And locking them up does not solve the problem. Did locking me up make me better? No, it did not. It made my struggle harder. "

" Life has took me on a journey, and through much of that journey, I didn't feel whole, connected, and grounded. So as a kid, everyone called me Sue. My daddy called me Susie Q. But through this journey, I've sort of risen to a place that I get this level of respect of Ms. Burton. "

Susan Burton

Feel

Journey

" The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery other than in prisons - but it was a lie that you regained your freedom once you left the prison gates. "

" It would have been great if there were a trauma center located in our community, where you could access grief counseling and be able to address it in a healthy manner. "

" I can remember, as a child, the happy days of us all piling into the car and going to the drive-in. And that was a weekly routine for my father. He was a proud black man, and that all sort of vanished as America began to export jobs. "

" It seems like I was born into trouble. "

Susan Burton

I Was Born

Born

" There are so many bright people who just need an opportunity to help others and pay it forward. "

" People are released from prison so unprepared. They give you $200. We call it gate money. And you have to pay for a bus ticket back to L.A. You get off the Greyhound bus, downtown Skid Row, and you're supposed to make a life from that. "

" I went to pick my son up from school and walked him back and was in the house preparing dinner, and he came in the house and gave me this flower of chrysanthemum that was full of ants. And he went back out to play and ran out into the street and got hit by a car. The car happened to be driven by a LAPD detective. "

Susan Burton

Flower

Dinner

" I knew hundreds and hundreds of women like me, who had traveled in and out of prison in a revolving door. They needed support and help just like I had received. And it could make a difference, just like it had made a difference in my life. I wanted to see them come back to the community and have a chance at a different life, too. "

" We continue to work on policy to end discrimination against people with criminal records. "

" Insulin is a crisis medication. "

" Our ancestors went through so much in a fight for us to vote. So I believe that we should engage in all civic participation. It's healthy engagement. "

" It's important the sheriff and the D.A. work with the community to realize real-world solutions. If they make decisions in silos, it will fall short. "

" Morning meditation is important to start every day on a positive note. "

" Telling your story is transformative. For both the storyteller and their audience, a new bridge to understanding is created. "

" The person who has been convicted has served their time. Why would we continue to punish and exclude them from housing and jobs? Those are the primary areas that allow people to get their lives back on track. "

" When I see a woman make it over all the obstacles, my heart just sings. "

" When you get locked up, you get locked out. "

" We all make mistakes. Sometimes people slip, but that doesn't mean they're not worthy of the support. "

" Unless we address those that are leaving prisons, we can't begin to repair the damage of mass incarceration and make our communities whole and healthy once again. "

" In prison, you're issued a number of sanitary pads per month. And many times, even when you're issued a number of sanitary pads, the guards will just come in and rip your room apart, rip your locker apart and take them. "