Jan Collins of the Maine Prisoners Advocacy Coalition

Voices from the Other Side

Jan Collins and her family lose their only "breadwinner", her father, to the Thomaston, Maine State Prison, as a very young school girl, forcing them into poverty. Thanks to the generosity of her uncle, a Maine dairy farmer, the family at least has the shelter of a plywood trailer with two bunks, but no running water, that was originally built to travel the country fair circuit.

In spite of these obstacles, Jan somehow manages against the odds to become a science teacher, yet will be tested again when her own son, Gordon, follows his father down the same destructive path of substance abuse, into prison.

Today Jan, as the Assistant Director of the Maine Prisoners Advocacy Coalition, continues to wage battles on behalf of our incarcerated communities in order to bring to light the shocking level of a totally inadequate health care system, contracted out to a for-profit entity by the State of Maine.

Please listen to my interview with Jan Collins, a truly remarkable, dedicated, and engaging woman who makes startling discoveries that begin to reveal glimpses of a world totally unknown to the "outside" community.