I Can't Think of a Pun about Resilience 6/1

This class was an incredibly unique experience. The class visited Cafe Exit, a program that aids prisoners and people recently released form prison in moving forward with their lives without crime.

I can't even begin to describe how moving this was to me. I admittedly don't know much about the prison system in Denmark, but I know that the prison system in the U.S. is undoubtedly broken. The exteremity of punishment for nonviolent crimes, the lack of adequate treatment for mentally ill offenders, and the mass-incarceration of people of color are a few issues that come to mind, but what about when people get out of prison? We live in a capitalist society that dictates that we must have jobs and an income to survive. Food, shelter, and healthcare are a privilege rather than a right. If ex-prisoners want to live safely, they must get a job. However, once they've been in prison, they're exponentially less hireable. In a job market that's already broken,  an ex-convict—especially a disabled convict or a convict of color—is not going to have much luck. Without support or money, without a plan or a job, and without food, healthcare, or a house, that ex-prisoner is going to return to a life of crime, get arrested, and end up in prison all over again. At least in prison, they have meals and a bed to sleep in.

The Cafe Exit program is amazing for eudemonic happiness. Like I said before, it can be nearly impossible for ex-convicts to make something with their lives once they've been released from prison. With a program like this, they have a support system. They have like-minded people there for them, actively trying to bring them strength and plan a future for them. Cafe Exit helps to bring them to their full potential and to discover their calling.