Today we’d like to introduce you to Candace Fleming.
Candace, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am Candace Beamer Fleming, an educator, wife, mother and one of the 2.2 million individuals who has been impacted by the pain of mass incarceration. I am an educator by trade who spent more than ten years teaching inside of Title I schools. I have always had a passion for working with at-risk youth. In fact, I would often find myself reaching out and pouring into the young people who were paving their path with bad decisions, often because of the pain they were experiencing at home. At the time, I didn’t know that I was sowing seeds of love and providing the shelter of family to many of them. I also didn’t know that they were seeds that I would later need to produce a harvest in my own life many years later.
In January of 2010, I was teaching 8th Grade Reading, had just given birth to my first child and was serving the community with my then fiance’ Willie. Of course, life was not perfect, but ours was pretty okay. Ten months later, I was in for a major storm and series of events that would literally alter the entire course of my life. It was in October of 2010 that “normal” was quickly overthrown when Willie went to prison. (In hindsight, there was actually a progressive pathway of prescription pain killers that contributed to this life-altering day but that is another story!)
Literally, overnight, our family was separated and almost in an instant, the fight to keep our family connected became alive in me. I remember telling God, “If you give me the grace, I will keep our family connected.” Ten years later, I look back and realize that He has poured out a whole lot of grace that has truly equipped me to do just that. That grace has come in the form of teaching Willie and me how to do marriage and parenting as an intentionally connected unit irrespective of the separation.
It also showed up tremendously in the strength, compassion and unique personality that lives inside of our son William. Grace has also come in the form of creativity with regard to how to build communication and family bonds by way of 2-hour visits and 30-minute phone calls. Lastly, grace has definitely shown itself in the authentic, vulnerable and consistent love that Willie, William and I have learned to cover one another with. Truly, on the hardest days when all of us have felt like we were gonna “fall out of the fight,” The Fleming Family love bond has somehow kicked in and held us together.
Out of all of that, Families of Conviction was born! We have a very simple but sincere mission, which is to provide inspiration, insight and support for families separated AND bound together by conviction. For us, that means we are committed to serving other families out of the grace that has allowed us to stay connected and to defy odds that are set against us.
What are we serving? Mostly hope and insight from our lived experience. We are providing what we have learned about marriage and parenting through incarceration, as well as knowledge of the prison journey that we learned the hard way. We are offering inspiration and testimony that no matter how hard and painful that the journey gets, you can survive and thrive with the right tools. Inside and outside of the walls, Willie and I are determined to pull as many individuals along as we can.
Willie daily lives with a focused determination to produce beyond the walls. He is a published author, writing mentor, teacher and devoted husband and father. Of the four books that he has written, “The Prisoner’s Pen: Poems of Pain, Passion and Purpose” is the one of which he is most proud because it is a collaborative project that he spearheaded and led with 25 inmates at the Wynne Unit to generate funds that will help support programs which serve children of incarcerated parents.
William is a ten-year-old who is wise beyond his years. He loves music, writing, video games and traveling. If you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, you will quickly get the response, “I want to be President.” And me, I have a full life of service that includes my work with the Urban Specialists, a leader at Kingdom WAR Legacy Church and my budding entrepreneurial efforts.
Today, I am focused on building out the initiatives of Families of Conviction. In January of 2021, we will launch our SuperSeed(TM) program, which is devoted to re-writing the narrative and removing the stigma for youth impacted by incarceration. William and I will also be re-launching the Families of Conviction Podcast, which will share stories of families who are defying the odds set against them (because there are others) and highlighting the many individuals and organizations who are helping so many families of conviction in various ways.
Together the Fleming Family has launched C.W. Fleming Books, Families of Conviction and Civility Institute, all while navigating the journey of incarceration. We have and continue to experience our fair share of difficult days because it comes with the territory. But more days than not, we have seen our convictions of faith, hope, serving others and love outweigh the conviction that was imposed on us in 2010. We are a family who is separated AND bound together by conviction – and we are seeking to encourage as many others as we can along this path.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
This has definitely not been a smooth road. We have incurred the struggles that come along with the separation by incarceration, which includes (but is definitely not limited to) the pain of being apart, the distance to visit, the financial strain on the household and the overall frustration of dealing with the institution of prison. We have incurred sickness during this time. Including Willie having a heart attack and recently surviving COVID-19… in the prison!
We have dealt with having to explain the “why daddy is STILL in prison” to William at varying levels of this journey. And the primary and most consistent challenge has been cultivating a true family dynamic in spite of the circumstance. Early on, Willie and I agreed that we would do marriage, parenting and family “authentically together” although we are apart. That means constantly working on communicating and connecting mentally, emotionally and spiritually in order to compensate for the physical deficit.
We’d love to hear more about Families of Conviction.
Families of Conviction is a 501 (c) 3 organization. Our goal is to provide inspiration, insight and support to families who are navigating the journey of incarceration. We provide inspiration through podcasts, blogs, calls to families and serving as a constant banner of hope that you can defy the odds set against you. Through our C.W. Fleming Books platform, we are working to help publish and promote other inmate authors.
We provide insight by literally walking with others on this journey and sharing the knowledge that we have and are gaining. That insight can be about visits, TDCJ policies and resources that are available. Whatever we know, we make sure that we share it with others. Our primary support initiative, SuperSeed (TM), will be launched fully in 2021. It is a support for youth impacted by incarceration and has a special formula that we know is going to flip the script!
I am most proud of our personal successes as a family. Although Willie is not in the home, his presence as William’s father is felt in every way. William knows his voice and loves his daddy. Although we are not physically together, Willie and I have a true covenant marriage that is for better or worse. And despite the fact that we are on year ten of this journey, we have not stopped producing for our family or for the Kingdom. I am equally proud of the way that we have poured into and supported others along the journey. We believe that a lot of love is the answer for most things and we try to pour it out on whoever needs it! Future plans and partnerships.
What were you like growing up?
I was raised by a strong single mother who always demonstrated great strength. Because of her example, I have long since been strong-willed, determined and hopeful about what I believe. I always have loved people and been an optimist.
Pricing:
- CW Fleming Books that range from $15 – 25
Contact Info:
- Website: www.familiesofconviction.org
- Email: www.familiesofconviction@gmail.com
- Instagram: @familiesofconviction
- Facebook: Families of Conviction
- Other: www.cwflemingbooks.com
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