Johnnie Mazzocco teaches Fiction Writing and Storytelling for the Screen at Columbia River Correctional Institution.

Has accepting this role as program lead changed your perspective?

I feel like I’ve certainly gotten to see more about what being on the inside is like. I had no idea until starting this. All I’d ever seen is what we see on movies and tv shows. So it has made it very real for me on what the real day to day life is for the adults in custody that I work with. It’s increased my compassion and empathy for them. I already had some of that, which is what led me to want to do it to begin with. It really has deepened my compassion and my desire to try and make a difference for them somehow. 

What’s the most rewarding thing?

I leave there every single time with my heart so full because of the humanity I see in them. I’m touched by the way they see the world, what they’ve experienced, the way they express themselves on the page. I’m very grateful for that. 

Describe a time that stands out the most.

There’s a person in my group who deals with a lot of personal, mental and physical health issues and has said that he’s never been able to get words on the page since he was in high school. Because of the way he processes things, he can only write in bullet points. He’s trying to figure out, “How am I going to write a screenplay?” The way we do it in there is they write by hand, give it to me and then I type it up. We pass back and forth for a period of time until it’s polished and finished. He was having trouble even getting started. So we went through this detailed process. I helped him go through his own thought process and figured out a way for him to start getting things on the page. At the end of it, he cracked this giant smile and said, “Now I think I’m getting it. I think I can do this.” That for me was the moment that hit me right in the heart. The next week he came in with two pages.

Do you have any advice for potential volunteers?

My best advice is drop any expectations you might have. Lead with love and with your heart and see what happens. It’s very special… making space for the unexpected… to really have your heart engaged in a way you might not expect.