WOMAN TURNS FROM CRACK TO POETRY

COCHRAN - For 12 years, Tamera Tolbert turned to crack to cope with
trouble. Now she turns to poetry.

She read one of her poems Monday night at a graduation ceremony.
Tolbert and six other female parolees accepted a certificate for
completing classes aimed at helping them avoid bad decisions.

"This program truly works if you give it time," she read to her
classmates. "Open yourself up to new peace of mind/Learn how to manage
the emotions you feel/Take time to see them, take time to deal."

Nine months ago, Tolbert struggled with crack and was on the verge of
going back to prison as a parole violator. Instead, her parole officer
enrolled her in a class called "Thinking For a Change." For the past
11 weeks, Tolbert and her classmates have met Monday nights at the
Cochran/Bleckley library.

"They have been amazing," Tolbert said of the classes. "They have
taught me a different way of dealing with problems instead of using
crack."

Her teacher, senior parole officer Shevondah Fields, told her to pick
up a pen and paper instead of a crack pipe. Now, when Holbert
experiences the kind of stress that once led her astray, she writes
down her feelings. Fields calls it a "thinking report."

"The thing is to teach our parolees to take an alternative method to
committing crime," Fields said. "Stop and think about what you are
going to do. Your choice can have negative and positive
consequences."

The class is the first like it for female parolees in the six-county
area served by the Dublin parole office, but it is part of an
statewide effort that begin in 1998.

Now every parolee takes at least one of four classes on substance
abuse, thinking skills, employment readiness and mental health.

The program works, said Heather Hedrick, the director of public
affairs for the Board of Pardons and Paroles. In 1998, 66 percent of
the state's parolees ended up going back to prison.

Today, 74 percent of parolees successfully complete their sentence,
compared to the nationwide rate of 42 percent, said Hedrick.

"It's about changing their thinking pattern," said
Hedrick.

Tolbert, 37, of Hawkinsville went to prison for selling crack. She
turned to selling to help pay for her addiction.

Now, she is confident she has left that life behind, but she wants to
give it more time before she reaches her ultimate goal of being able
to care for her 9-year-old daughter. Tolbert knows her daughter is
better off staying with someone else now.

"That's my biggest motivation," she said.

Tolbert was the only graduate who agreed to be interviewed and have
her photo taken. The reason for her openness is that she wants to send
a message about recovering drug addicts.

"Not all people who use drugs are bad people," she said. "We just make
bad choices. We aren't all going to steal from you."

But that's what many people believe, especially employers. Tolbert,
who is unemployed, finds it difficult to get a job when she must put
on her application that she is a convicted felon.

"All I want is a second chance," she said. "Everyone should have a
second chance."