As our group of 50 visitors --- "outsiders" --- entered the makeshift chapel at the California Institution for Women in Corona, one inmate called to me and motioned to a seat next to her. "Come sit here with me."

She introduced herself --- Carolyn Hamilton, age 55. Noticing the very warm room on this early October day, she said apologetically that the air conditioner was on a timer and would not go on for a while. She brought paper cups of cool water to our places. Within a few short minutes her friend Betty McKay, also 55, came into the room and took the seat near us.

Thus began a day of fascinating conversation, lunch and serious discussion with two women I had never met before and will never forget. Many of these elderly women inmates, in fact, reminded me of my own mother in looks, interests and mannerisms. I thought of Matthew 25: "For I was hungry and you gave me food, thirsty and you gave me drink… in prison and you visited me."

I was part of a group of 50 women and men --- including numerous women religious --- who came to CIW and participated in "Wisdom Without Walls," a day of conversation organized by the Women and Criminal Justice Network which is under the sponsorship of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.

"Our strategy," says Sister Suzanne Jabro, network director, "is to initiate conversations for the common good. These elderly women in prison feel they have something to say." Last year's two conversations highlighted, among other issues, aging with dignity and respect in prison.

Indeed, of the 100 women we met at the CIW that day, many have children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren. They are part of the graying population of prisons in the nation's criminal justice system. At CIW, those over 55 call themselves the "Golden Girls."

Many have gone through the long process of petitioning for parole. They have served their sentences, been told they were suitable for release by the parole board ---only, after another interminable wait, to be told that the governor did not agree with the parole board and rejected their parole. The governor rarely sets prisoners free, even the elderly.

Carolyn and Betty
Carolyn Hamilton has been at CIW for 26 years serving a 16-years-to-life sentence. She says she grew up in an abusive family and that her brother had killed his wife --- and that he made her his alibi. When he was found guilty, she received a second degree murder sentence.

At the time Carolyn's son was 7 years old. "Now he's in prison, so I don't see him anymore," she says of her son, now 33. She feels that if she had been there, maybe things would be different for him.

But Carolyn does not dwell on what cannot be changed. "Because of my faith I can put a smile on my face every day, but it wasn't always that way," she says. "Since I choose to wake up with that smile everyday, it makes my day easier."

Betty McKay says she and Carolyn became good friends after sharing the same 10-by-15-foot cell --- the same bunk, toilet, sink and closets --- for 14 years. Now in different cells, they remain best friends. They support each other, give a smile and share joy, sadness and the hope of leaving prison before they die. And, their worst fear: to die in prison alone.

Betty has been at CIW for 18 years for committing "aggravated mayhem." She says that one day she left the house to run a few errands. When she came back she found her "significant other" in bed with another woman. She went into the kitchen, heated grease in a pan and poured it on them. She received a sentence of life with a minimum of 98 years.

Of her experience Betty says, "In the beginning I was an inmate paying for my crime. Now I'm just a hostage. What else do you want from me? When do I get a second chance?"

Like so many of these Golden Girls, they see their lives slowly disappearing. "There's a lot I'd like to accomplish in life. I could be an asset," says Betty, who earned a BA in psychology at Cal State Sacramento before prison. "I know I've got something to give to keep someone from sitting in this seat. I just know that God has something more for me to do. I have hope."

Betty continually works to improve better herself. She attends computer skills-building classes, and recently had an opportunity to join a Faith Based Program at CIW. In the program the inmates learn life skills, anger management, boundaries, and study the Books of Ruth and Esther in the Old Testament.

"My passion is disadvantaged children," Betty says. "The more society moves, the more we're leaving our children behind." She wants to open a center for 6 to 18 year old kids and she wants to do parent training. "Parents and children need to start talking in the home," she says.

Carolyn knows that she would probably do janitorial work at release. But she also knows that others have it worse than she, especially the homeless. She wants to help at a soup kitchen when released or provide blankets, toiletries, do whatever she can.

She sees the incongruity in her situation and those outside prison walls. "I want to do those things. I have blankets, a warm bed and yet I'm in prison. The homeless are cold and there's no warmth," she says. "I'm in prison, but I'm free."

Health concerns
Throughout the chapel chairs were set in groups of three - two "insiders" for every outsider entering the room. In this setting, other Golden Girls voiced the same concerns and fears as Carolyn and Betty. In large group sharing, many addressed very real medical and dental concerns. There is poor nutrition, little follow-up to medical visits, and the worry of interactions in medications. Which means the fear of getting sick looms large.

Carolyn has diabetes and is unable to chew well because she is missing bottom teeth. Because she works in the prison system, she is considered employed and gets no help with her dental bills. And it is nearly impossible to pay her $300 dental bill on the 32 cents an hour she earns as a forklift driver in the CIW maintenance warehouse. Especially when her wages must be used to purchase shampoo, soap and other needs. It also costs the state about $35,000 a year to keep Carolyn in prison.

Each outsider leaving CIW came away believing that California's prison system needs serious rehabilitation. It is a system that was built for 100,000 prisoners, and currently houses 133,000. Facilities created for recreation - gyms and auditoriums - have been turned into huge dormitory style housing with three beds to a bunk. Sentences that vary from 15 years to life are death sentences for some inmates, and in prison that means dying alone and with little medical care. Determinant sentencing for all is far more humane, we agreed, for where overcrowding exists, so does injustice. As Sister Suzanne Jabro stated during our visit, "Prisons reflect the culture outside."

I think about Myrtle Green, who has served 17 years for conspiracy, even though she never murdered anyone nor made an attempt on anyone's life. Myrtle has one daughter, granddaughter, a great granddaughter, and no one else. Over the years she has noticed how more and more phone numbers and addresses have had to be deleted from her address book - a sad reality that comes with being 76 years old.

She was found eligible for parole in 2005 and was given a release date for 2010, if she lives that long. "I will go home to few," Myrtle says.

For more information, contact: www.womenandcriminaljustice.us.