Success Stories: Ashanti Parks 
Ashanti Parks is a graduate of the U-Turn Permitted program. She has been out of prison for a little over two years and currently has a job as a Home Care Provider. She loves her job because it is something that she has always envisioned herself doing. Her journey to this point has been a little rough and has required some change on her part. She's grateful for that.
Ashanti was raised by her grandmother since she was a baby. When Ashanti was 12 years old a friend introduced her to marijuana which she continued smoking for many years. Ashanti became pregnant with her first child when she was 14 years old. She was able to stay in school until she became pregnant again when she was 17 and had to drop out of high school. She got pregnant again at the age of 18.
At 18 Ashanti moved from North Lawndale to Chicago's Southside where she was influenced by some “wild people,” as she describes them. She got married when she was 19 and had three more children -- a total of six -- with her husband.
This period of life was tough for Ashanti because her husband was domineering and physically abusive. He didn’t allow her to associate with her friends, go back to school or generally have a life of her own. As a result Ashanti felt like she was in a black hole and her self esteem was very low.
At the age of 22 and with the help of her mother, Ashanti sought out and found her father. He was dying of leukemia but welcomed her with open arms and wanted to make up for lost time, an opportunity that Ashanti has always been grateful for. During this difficult period Ashanti continued to smoke marijuana because it provided her with a sense of comfort.
In 1992 Ashanti took her children and left her husband. She fled to Wisconsin where she had a niece and lived in a shelter. While in Wisconsin, Ashanti got involved with people who were trafficking drugs and began to spend a lot of time around them. At this point Ashanti’s children went back to Chicago to live with their father. Then in 1996 Ashanti was arrested under trafficking charges. She received a ten year sentence.
For the first two months of prison Ashanti fasted with only one cup of juice every week. The purpose of the fast was for Ashanti to get in touch with herself being in prison. The fast was also the beginning of her journey to learn how to change her attitude and outlook on life. While incarcerated Ashanti was transferred to several prisons in Wisconsin, West Virginia, Chicago, and California. There were many programs that she took advantage of such as drug use and abuse related counseling.
When Ashanti was released from prison she had a different attitude. She was able to communicate better and wasn’t as angry or argumentative. She now had ambitions.
Ashanti lived in a half way house and got a job as an Outreach Assistant with the Salvation Army. Ashanti quit this job because of a conflict with one of the other employees. She preferred to quit because after being in prison she didn’t know how to respond to conflict.
While living in the half way house, Ashanti met Elaine Austin who was working at the North Lawndale Employment Network. Elaine encouraged Ashanti to attend the U-Turn Permitted program. After some resistance Ashanti went through the program and completely absorbed the lessons of the classes. She practiced the techniques she learned in U-Turn through temp agencies. Finding new jobs helped Ashanti find belief in her abilities and herself.
Now, over a year since graduating from U-Turn, Ashanti is working as a Home Care Provider and has recently applied for a position as a Clerk with the Salvation Army, which she is confident that she will get. Ashanti is also currently pursuing a GED since her mind is now receptive to education whereas before her mind was burdened with the stress of her abusive relationship. At the end of July, Ashanti filed for divorce and is now awaiting a court date. Her relationship with her children is progressively getting stronger. One of her son’s is at school at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, two others are in high school. One is incarcerated and will be released soon. Another has a one year old child. One of her daughters is having a little more trouble with her anger toward her mother, so Ashanti only had the chance to see her recently for the first time since she’s been out of prison. Ashanti is committed to improving her relationships with her children although she recognizes that it might be difficult.
Ashanti discusses her life as a journey that has brought her to a place where she can be happy and is able to take advantage of opportunities that help her to improve her life. She accredits a lot of where she is to NLEN, stating that “this is my foundation that I can build on”. She recognizes the passion that the NLEN staff put into their work and that some aspect of NLEN distinguishes it from other programs that she has been involved in. Ashanti is grateful that she has had been able to emerge from prison with the ability to accept a variety of cultures and deal with the changes the world has gone through since the beginning of her incarceration.
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