Humanity Project

“From the beginning, Amy was very clear with me that she wanted to enroll in treatment so that she could address her mental health issues.”

A ‘Tuesday’ was like any other day of the week – until Caleb was incarcerated.

In the wake of the pandemic, all programs and classes at the Shelby County Department of Corrections were placed on hold, indefinitely.

On lockdown, William spent 23 hours of each day inside the walls of his cell and had one hour each day to shower or use the jail phones.

Denise had faced many challenges while trying to raise her family. However, when her son, Anthony, was arrested at school, she had to face her biggest challenge yet.

John built a friendship with Lil’ C during their time in jail and he sincerely cared about him. Then one day, Lil’ C got sick and John never heard from him again.

Courtney never imagined that she would become the primary caretaker of her younger brother, Justin. She also never imagined having to live without him after making one call to the police.

Young and healthy, Ben didn’t check the boxes of being someone who was high-risk for contracting the virus - until he did.

In a year that laid bare how the justice system values some lives over others, this office chose to publish the stories of the people it represents.