Dream Scribers program helps women in Kane County Jail tell their stories, get them published

One woman reflects on enduring a life of drugs, sexual abuse and domestic violence. At 40 years old, she hopes to help others avoid the same troubled journey.

Another woman tells a similar story, though, in her 20s, her focus is on what it is like not to realize that doing drugs was bad - because most others in her family were doing the same thing.

Both have a unique perspective on these crimes and societal problems because they tell their stories from inside the Kane County Jail. How they were telling, it was important because the stories unfolded through the old-fashioned pen-to-paper storytelling process through a program called Dream Scribers.

For some, expressing oneself through writing is a coping mechanism for most anything life throws your way. Unfortunately, not all people who could most benefit from learning how best to put thoughts in writing get that chance.

Natalie Bonner, founder and president of Talented Tenth Social Services in Aurora, wanted to provide that opportunity when creating Dream Scribers, a writing program for female detainees at the Kane County Jail.

The 12-week program is an offshoot of Bonner's Dream Scribers Youth program at the agency. As it is with the youth program, the goal for women detainees is to write and publish a book before the program is completed.

In Bonner's mind, Dream Scribers represented a perfect fit as a skills program at the jail because it had many positive aspects for people preparing for a second chance at life.

"It is very therapeutic to write, to be able to get your thoughts out in a way you may not be able to do verbally," said Bonner, who started Dream Scribers in 2019 and introduced it to women at the county jail in September of 2021.

"It is creative, so you can dream and write about whatever comes to your mind; there are no restrictions on that," Bonner said. Not all of the detainees write about their struggles with addiction or violence. Some prefer more lighthearted topics or to express themselves through poetry.

"I just wanted to encourage those who are not good readers or writers to just try this program - and you are guaranteed to be better at one or both," Bonner added.

She said it helps develop writing skills and can also carry over into verbal communication.

"Besides writing the books, those in the program are also encouraged to speak verbally because people are going to ask them about the books," Bonner added. "You get more people skills if you don't have those, and you become more comfortable talking about yourself and your interests. So, communication is a big part of this as well."

Talented Tenth helps get the writing started through pen or pencil on paper, with the final product eventually being published through Kindle Direct Publishing, Amazon's self-publishing platform.

Bonner plans to bring the program back to Kane County Jail in the coming months because it was popular and had a waiting list of women wanting to participate.

But she wants to overcome a snag of sorts - both good and bad - from the first session.

"We had three who started their books, but they were released before they finished, and it has been hard to reach them since," Bonner said.

While being released from jail is the ultimate goal for detainees, Bonner hopes she can work with jail officials somehow to extend the program beyond the time in jail so participants can get their books published.

Corey Dixon, senior assistant director of administration at the Kane County Sheriff's office, feels the same way about any offerings in the jail's Diversion Program. Bonner worked through Dixon and senior director of administration Judy Dawson to set up Dream Scribers at the jail.

"It is always our hope with our community providers like Natalie Bonner and the Dream Scribers program that once someone starts a program inside the jail, they will have an opportunity to complete it once they are outside the jail," Dixon said.

"That is normally the goal, from educational programs or therapies," Dixon added. "Sometimes we fall a little bit short, but that is always the goal because that is the best thing to do for the detainees in providing continuity of support once they are released."

In the first round for Dream Scribers, Bonner saw a few writers tackle topics they might not have otherwise.

For the 40-year-old writing about her life of substance abuse and violence, Bonner noted, "She said she felt ashamed to talk about it, but after writing about it, she realized many others have had this experience and that if she could help one person rise above it, it made her feel really good."

The younger writer simply relates her feelings and thoughts about what it was like to "minimize" her unlawful behavior when she knew little about how to lead a life without those temptations.

"Sometimes we correlate familiarity with it being the right thing to do," Bonner added. "So, she thought what she was doing was OK, but it really wasn't - and she explains how it was bad for her."

The younger people working through Dream Scribers Youth at Talented Tenth, a state-certified community mental health provider at 213 N. Lake St. in Aurora, also have the goal of having their children's books published. And many have.

Bonner, a children's book author herself under the pen name Marie Sunshine, says the books give her younger and older writers a chance to make some money on the side. Or hit an even bigger jackpot in life.

"It is an opportunity to become your own boss and be an entrepreneur," she said. "And, of course, we hope all of them can write New York Times bestsellers or Amazon bestsellers one day."

It's cold, plunge or not

Even though it may not be subzero temperatures on Sunday, March 6, I have to say Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain and undersheriff Pat Gengler have some courage I couldn't muster.

They're going to confront freezing cold water at 1 p.m. that day for the Polar Plunge at the Maple Park Fire Department, 305 S. County Line Road. I use the term "confront" because they won't be jumping in any lake or body of water. After all, there is no such thing at the Maple Park Fire Station.

Instead, the sheriff and undersheriff and any other participants will be running through water sprinklers and possibly taking a few shots from a fire hose to make sure they get soaked for the "polar" part of the event.

The important thing here is that it's for a good cause in raising money for the Special Olympics.

The "Be Bold Get Cold" event will have refreshments for sale, a 50/50 raffle, and a Polar Plunge swag bag to help raise money.

Those interested in participating or donating to the sheriff's efforts can get information from the soill.donordrive.com site under the Kane County Sheriff team link.

It's my marathon

Several of my friends or work colleagues have surprised me through the years by announcing they were training to participate in a marathon. Some weren't serious runners before but worked hard and completed the Fox Valley Marathon, while others did the Chicago Marathon.

Each time, I was really impressed.

I would never take on such an endeavor, but I recently completed something that never seemed possible. This probably isn't a big deal for many, but this would qualify as my marathon.

I walked more than 10,000 steps a day, as recorded through my Fitbit, every day for a year. I hit that 365-day mark two days ago, and I wasn't sure if I would just keep it going or shut it down for a day or so and start over.

This occurred without having an inside walking track or another easy process. Through my neighborhood and other neighborhoods, park districts, and county parks, I did it. Through our downtowns and the bigger retail locations like Costco, Walmart, At Home, Dick's Sporting Goods, Meijer, and others, piling up a quick 1,000 or more steps occurs fairly easily while shopping. It was done through lots of movement in my house or on our treadmill on bad weather days.

dheun@sbcglobal.net