History of Forgotten Souls Redeemed

Forgotten Souls Redeemed is a project designed to help redeem "forgotten souls" such as prisoners, juvenile detainees, and at-risk members of society. This will be accomplished through workshops involving (1) poetic therapy that encourages participants to find positive modes of expression through poetry and language, and (2) discussions of ethics designed to reawaken in the participants a sense of awe and respect for human dignity that will serve as a gateway for a more moral life.

Forgotten Souls Redeemed is a public benefit corporation designed to turn the "revolving door" of prisons into a one-way exit to a better life. The failure of the prisons is their failure to reform the soul. Forfotten Souls Redeemed works in a very different way than the "correctional system." Instead of punishment, we seek to offer a positive outlet for an expression that would otherwise find a destructive outlet. We seek to provide forgotten souls with a creative and positive mode of expression as an alternative to the violent modes of expression that they know all too well.

Our poetic therapists conduct weekly workshops that encourage expression through poetry and journal writing. The counselors at the California Youth Authority where we conduct some of our workshops attest to a qualitative improvement in the participant's attitudes and respect for each other. It has even been suggested that out two hour sessions produce more positive results than do the on-site counselors.

One way or another, what is inside the soul always finds expressions. For these forgotten souls, this expression is often violent and destructive. We seek to provide forgotten souls with creative and positive mode of expression that they know all too well.

Delores Combs is the Founder of Forgotten Souls Redeemed and the primary practitioner of the organization. She is a graduate of Pitzer College, where she was first exposed to incarcerated youth and began her journey towards forming Forgotten Souls Redeemed. The Pitzer College magazine "The Participant" wrote an article about Delores and Forgotten Souls Redeemed in the Fall 2006 edition.