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Rob McClendon: Well, life beyond bars can be exceedingly difficult, but despite the
barriers society can throw up, many offenders said they couldn't be happier. Here's our
Courtney Maye. Courtney Maye: Nearly 15 years behind bars,
a former drug addict with four felony convictions, inside these gates is where Katherine Burch
turned her life around. Katherine Burch: It's just so many, you know,
facets of my life that God has just really given back to me in a place called prison.
Courtney: And in this place called prison, Burch met volunteer Gloria Wilson. Wilson
and her husband, Don, were the first people Burch saw when she walked out of the gates.
Burch: When she met me at that gate, she didn't sit in the car and wait. She got out the car
and stood outside the gate that opened for me to come out and welcomed me there, you
know. It wasn't no hey I'm over here. She was like, I'm here, I'm here for you.
Courtney: It's Wilson's faith that helps her work with inmates.
Gloria Wilson: I have problems with alcohol and drugs, too, but I haven't used a drug
or drank any alcohol in over 24 years. One thing about volunteers, they're impacting
lives in a way that are changing people's perspective on what life is about.
Courtney: But life on the outside can't survive on faith alone. Burch works at Electro Enterprises
in Oklahoma City, and she meets the job qualifications because of skills training she received from
a program the Oklahoma Department of CareerTech offers inmates.
Burch: I like my job, you know, mainly because they do allow me to grow here, you know. There's
no restriction, there's no, OK, you just do this. If you're willing to move, then they
will move you, you know. And that's what I love about it.
Courtney: And Electro Enterprises Human Resources Manager Brenda Aylor believes in second chances.
Brenda Aylor: Lots of people say that they want a second chance. Katherine came in here
and convinced us that she wanted a second chance and that she would take that second
chance and do something with it. Courtney: Burch is an inspiration to those
who are in the same shoes as she once was. Nina Walker became friends with Burch while
both were behind bars. Nina Walker: You just don't know what it's
like to see somebody that has come from where we've came from, to succeed. It fills you
with the hope, and that's what you've gotta see. You've gotta see that in someone else's
life in order to get that hope in your life. And when I would see Katherine succeeding
and doing all these things and knowing where she came from, it inspired me so much.
Burch: I'm a productive member of society, and I believe it's all because I was given
a second chance, you know. I feel invigorated. I feel alive. I feel renewed. I feel proud.