Heroes Make College Education Possible for Incarcerated Women
By Suzanne Edmondson

In the early fall of 1996, I ventured out my door for my first trip to a women’s prison, Eddie Warrior Correctional Center (EWCC) in Taft, Okla. I was shaking in my shoes for several reasons, not the least of which was my fear that the incarcerated women with whom I was meeting may well include someone that my husband, Jim, had sent to prison. He was then a longtime district judge in Muskogee County. As I entered the prison classroom, I was relieved to find a gathering of women, literacy tutors all, who could very well have been fellow members of Franklin School PTA.

For many months I worked with and en-joyed getting to know these women. I began doing programs in the community with EWCC’s principal, Dr. H.C. Davis. We spoke to the Lake Tenkiller Women’s Association in the spring of 1997, and a woman in the audience gave us $50 to help educate an incarcerated woman.

We couldn’t cash the check. A vehicle was needed, and Jim suggested a not-for-profit corporation. Enter Hero #1. Retired Muskogee attorney Kay Wilson worked many hours with me to incorporate Friends of Eddie Warrior (FEW) Foundation Inc. We could finally cash checks and began a viable college program at EWCC. FEW exists solely for the college education, both tuition and books, of qualified, indigent incarcerated women of the correctional center. We partner with Connors State College in Warner. Connors sends certified teachers to EWCC. All classes actually take place at the prison, which benefits our students with its hands-on aspect, and teachers modeling behavior add an important dimension that is lacking in many of their students’ lives.

A wonderful philanthropist in Muskogee approached me in the post office one day and invited FEW to apply for a grant. She said, “I assume you are a 501(C)(3).” Kay Wilson and I had applied, but the process was stalled. Enter Hero #2, Muskogee attorney Ron Wright, who in short order drafted new bylaws, clarified FEW’s purpose and obtained 501(C)(3) tax exempt status. Pro bono. FEW was shipshape at last. With all its bona fides in place, FEW grew and went about the business of educating the women of Eddie Warrior.

In the late ‘90s, a former FEW student contacted me. After her release, she’d returned to Texas, received her bachelor’s degree and wanted to go to law school. An impediment to that was her continued obligation to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Hero #3, District Judge Jim Goodpaster, who has recently retired, heard her pleas for release from DOC supervision in open court and granted her request. (This woman today is an OBA member.)

Time passed, FEW continued its work, and Jim and I relocated to Oklahoma City. In 2007 a question arose about FEW’s tax exempt status. I consulted Oklahoma City attorney Tim Larason, our fourth hero. Tim navigated the hoops and hurdles of the IRS like the pro he is, and FEW is once again in fine shape. His fee for many hours of work? $28 for copies.

Until this year, every dollar given to FEW has gone to tuition and textbooks for our college students. FEW has no employees and no overhead. This semester, fall 2008 takes us to 860 classes funded. I’ve written just one check other than for tuition and books -- to a CPA firm for FEW’s tax return last year. Alas, that will be an ongoing expense, and to my way of thinking, it will deprive four women of college classes.

The bar has spoiled me. My complaint is minor when I consider what has been so generously given to the foundation. I am grateful for much wise counsel and many kindnesses along the way, and I thank you all, including especially the Oklahoma Bar Foundation, Oklahoma Board of Bar Examiners and OBA members Jim Edmondson, Tom Colbert, Yvonne Kau-ger, Judge Carol Hansen, Tom Alford, J. William Conger, John Morris Williams, Robert Ravitz and Mike Mordy.

Merry Christmas, y’all. OBA rocks!

Mrs. Edmondson is FEW founder and secretary/treasurer. For more information about the foundation, e-mail fewfund@cox.net.