These letters from three people incarcerated at Larch Corrections Center were received on March 26, 2020.
LETTER 1
My personal experience has been a stressful one. I am confined to a day room, when I was in a room already away from most everyone. And I feel like people here are afraid of me when I do get a chance to go out and do the things I need to do, and having all these random people come to the window and looking in at us like were caged animals at the zoo. None of us are showing any symptoms, and the time it took for them to figure out who the other guy who went to Shelton came into contact with, we all have been around so many people with work and gym and yard. So if it were here and this individual at Shelton has it, it wouldn’t be to far of a reach to say a lot of people here have come into contact with this virus. I don’t feel like we have any type of proper protocol to deal with this whole situation, and its not like minimum, medium and closed custoday where there’s cells, they need to just shut these dorm style camps down for our own protection. But all in all, I feel like DOC is ill equipped to handle any outbreak in a camp setting. We are stuck here in this room regerdless of the test results from the individual they put us in here for. We are being treated like we are being punished by staff, in terms of needing an escort to go to the bathrooms, and erratic phone times getting our time cut short. I know its all unintentional how we are being treated, but its not right, they should have some type of protocol for quarantine where our needs can be met without us feeling like caged animals under punishment, especially since we haven’t done anything to get in trouble. This is just a brief overview of how I feel. Thank you for taking my testimonial, I hope it helps.
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LETTER 2
I’d like to share my experience’s with you. I feel like these correctional officers are being misled and misguided and although its not any individuals fault that their all over the place while trying to implicate a procedure that I believe there coming up with on the go and with no understanding on the situation at hand. I wish that they had a procedure set in stone because thier inadequate efficiency is causing the other inmates to look at me like I’m infected with the coronavirus witch I am not for I have not shown any symptoms at all. these uncomfortable stares from the the other offenders are beginning to cause me severe anxiety. witch I am too nervous to express with others do to my anxiousness I wish that there was an expert here to provide me with professional advice on my mental health issues that have been dealing with on my own accord. I can kinda understand why other offenders are treating me with indifference because us as offenders only know what we’re told by our P.I.O witch is nothing at all. so the only information that I have on this issue is provided by the news our my very misleading prison gossip group. I’m also really worried about my own familys well being as they are extremely worried about mine. I feel a lil better now after just expressing my uncomfortable situation thanks for listening.
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LETTER 3
FIGHTING THIS FEAR OF NEVER GONNA MAKE IT OUT THIS PLACE DO TOO THE MADNESS THIS PLACE N THE OUTSIDE WORLD HAS IMPOSED UPON US ALL; MY LIFE HAS BEEN IN THESE PRISONS FOR A LONG TIME N NOW I AM NOT SEEING THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THIS TUNNEL; I HAD A TABLET, BUT IT IS BROKEN; PEOPLE LOOK AN STARE AT ME WITH FEAR N THEY PRAY THEY DONT GET IT. THATS IF I GOT THE BAD CASE OF WHATS GOING ON; TILL NEXT JANE; ALOFA LAVA TO LIFE N LIVING; ONLY THE STRONG N SANE PERSON REMAIN WALKING; PEACE OUT;