This was authored by David Rothenberg and represents his point of view, written on Oct. 15, 2011.

Recently, I have talked with tow old acquaintances, both of whom posed similar questions. One asked if I was still involved with criminals…the second, a few days later, wondered if I was still working with convicts..

I never thought in those terms. Those labeled criminals and convicts, have little or nothing to do with the men and women I have known at the Fortune Society. People struggling to reclaim their lives.

Let me explain…in the United States, nothing creates media attention of public compassion more that stories of abused or neglected children…Why Not? Children are defenseless as they are being shaped…and for every story that reaches public attention, there are thousands unseen and unheard, many below the radar screen, these are the children who grow up and bear the scars of their formative years, acting out the crocodiles of their dreams.

Any meaningful study of men and women in our prisons, should reveal that an overwhelming majority where the throwaway children of past years, this is not an excuse but an explanation.  There is cause and affect.

In the early 1980’s, I visited a gloomy SRO Hotel, the once glamorous Martinique off Herald Square on 32^nd. Street.  Several women living there, wives of incarcerated men, called the Fortune Society, seeking help .One woman was living in a single room, the size of a prison cell, with three children. Two of the children slept on a floor mat.  The infant slept with her mother on a single cot.  They had a hot plate (which is illegal), but mostly scrambled for food. The children were always hungry. I learned that day that the Government subsidy paid the Hotel owner to sum of $1000. monthly for this dingy room. The women reported, if she found a one-bedroom apartment, with a kitchen and bathroom, she would loose government support, if the rent for the apartment was over $450. a month.

As I began asking questions, it was clear that the hotel owner was making a fiscal killing from these Dickens like conditions…Further probing revealed that SRO Management were hefty political contributors and had effective lobbies shaping policy.  I became increasingly angry, with each visit to the hotel.

Hallways smelled of urine, and there was always a horde of small children running up and down the corridors. There were no provisions for children. More than once I said, I would not want to see these children in 20 years, because we were molding an alienated generation. The fuse I insisted, was long, I repeated that sorry story for years.

A few years ago, when we began rehearsing the play, The Castle, I reflected on that experience at the Martinique…Casimiro Torres, on of the Castle members, told me he was one of the children at the Martinique, about the same time when I was there.  Caz revealed that he and his brother would steal food from local grocery, because of the constant hunger that was part of their childhood.  In the play…Caz introduced himself to the audience, stating…”I arrived at the Castle, homeless with 67 arrests and 16 years in prison” He went on to report, that at the age of ten was introduced to weed and alcohol, from then on, that is how the pain was handled.  All of his arrests were drug related.  Caz has reclaimed his life today.  He is married, has a daughter and works as a Substance Abuse Counselor, passionate about his work with troubled young men and women…His humanity and talent was always there.  It just needed an opportunity to emerge..

Out On A Limb

David Rothenberg