Kerry wasn’t sure she liked Liberty Manor at all. Well, she was sure . . . she didn’t. I didn’t think she much liked us either, nor our program.

But Kerry is settling in. It’s great to see her gorgeous smile and big brown eyes and the enthusiasm she brings to nudging the women to do the video workout with her each day.

Liberty Manor is one of several sites where Project Empower linked with Rochester Voters Alliance (nonpartisan) to educate and register people to vote. Presently, only one of the women at Liberty Manor does not have a “record.” The discussions have been lively and only a few of the women over the past eight months have been apathetic about voting. For many of them it is a way of beginning to give back to the society from which they have taken much.

We have spent countless sessions talking about voting—and I’ve spent countless hours doing research to make sure I give them correct information. As the election approached, the women were getting more and more excited about voting and many of them in their 30’s and 40’s were voting for the first time!

Liberty Manor moved on October 28 to a gorgeous site by the river. The move, however, complicated their voting as they were registered at the old address. But not to worry. We had it all figured out. They voted by affidavit ballot at their new polling site—and had instructions in hand about how to get there.

Now, back to Kerry. Clearly frustrated she had received a letter from the Board of Elections stating that her voters’ registration was cancelled because she is incarcerated on a felony. Only, she’s not incarcerated—she was in group with us at Liberty Manor that morning! Incarcerated felons and felons on parole do not have the right to vote until they have finished their sentence and parole time. Kerry is a felon, but, a felon on probation. Felons on probation have the right to vote.

So after 15 minutes on the phone with the Board of Elections, I was told that it was state records that had indicated that Kerry was incarcerated (she has never been to prison) and so ineligible to vote. She could not vote by affidavit ballot, only by court order, which she was unlikely to get. The Department of Human Services had also informed her that her benefits would be cut off in November since she was incarcerated—which, of course, we have established that she is not!

So, I suggested calling the probation officer. I ended the conversation with the probation officer—a friendly, helpful, cheerful soul—with the promise she would attend to matters. About a half our later, she called back. A message had been left at DHS, and she had spoken directly to the Board of Elections who said they would reinstate Kerry’s registration with a faxed letter from the probation officer. That afternoon the officer was going to court and would correct the computer glitch that caused all this trouble.

I wish you could have seen Kerry’s beaming face—and then heard our hopeful conversation of where she was headed in life. At age 33, she’d never had a job and wanted to find something meaningful to do in her life but sadly said, “I can’t do what I really want to do because of my conviction.” I asked her what that was and she said she wanted to work with children. Her conviction of a felony DWI precluded working with children until seven years after he turns 18—7 years from now.

But miracles can happen when we are willing to step out of seeing the folks we work with as numbers and do a little advocacy. I told her that was the next thing we would start working on—the step by step process of regaining her place in society. After all, our motto is Changing the World One Woman at a Time by Changing the Energy Within, Between, and Around. One day I am confident that Kerry, with her internal energy change, will indeed be one of the women changing the world!