A life lost is found again: The Felicia Delgado story

Dear Friends:

This lovely and hope filled. Please read and lift your spirits.

Abolition!

Lisa

Edward Achorn: A life lost is found again: The Felicia Delgado story

01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, July 13, 2010
The Providence Journal
By EDWARD ACHORN

One of the most beautiful aspects of the Christian faith is its strong message of redemption. Jesus of Nazareth recognized that all human beings are prone to fail, but he taught that we can admit to our wrongs, make amends and move on, making the best of the gifts we have been given.

Some critics huffily brand it hypocrisy when those who express their support for high moral values fail to live up to them. Jesus, more attuned to the reality of human frailty, recognized that we will all stumble many times, but that does not make it wrong to believe in doing good. We pick ourselves up and try again. And we forgive others who have failed.

The idea permeates the Gospels, repeated many times, in story after story: rising from death to a new life. As the father says in the tale of the Prodigal Son: "This brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and now he is found."

I read a very moving story in the paper the other day that could have come straight out of the New Testament, right down to the headline ("In court, her life, once lost, restored," July 2, by The Journal’s estimable Katherine Gregg).

It told of Felicia Delgado, 45, a former prostitute who whooped with joy in court when the record of part of her life on the streets was erased from the state’s criminal-record books under a year-old Rhode Island law that makes indoor prostitution illegal, while shifting the emphasis from punishing prostitutes to stopping prostitution.

Under the law, "loitering-for-prostitution" charges may be expunged from the record, at a judge’s discretion, one year after completion of that person’s sentence. Though I remain strongly opposed to sending adult crime records down the memory hole, if there ever was a case for expungement, this was it.

Ms. Delgado’s record still includes evidence of her miserable life as a streetwalker: Shoplifting, check fraud and heroin possession. But it mattered to her that the prostitution charges were removed.

Why? "Because I am a mother, a woman, a daughter . . . a sister and, hopefully, I will one day be a wife and I do not want ‘prostitute’ ­ the word ­ because it exiles me."

Yet she has not forgotten or tried to hide her past ­ which is why a Pawtucket police major, a Miriam Hospital nurse, a probation officer and others were on hand to advance her cause and applaud when the judge ruled in her favor.

As her lawyer, Andrew Horowitz, noted in a court memorandum, Ms. Delgado has turned her life into a "remarkable success story."

"From her teenage years until her mid-30s, she lived a life that was dominated by drug abuse, prostitution and other criminal behavior. Then, through faith, perseverance and dogged determination, she turned her life around . . . [then] devoted her life to the project of rescuing others who were suffering her same fate."

As the outreach worker for the Pawtucket-based Project RENEW (Revitalizing & Engaging Neighborhoods by Empowering Women), she has steered prostitutes to classes on prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, substance-abuse treatment, housing, employment and other services. Her own experience obviously makes her much more effective.

Ms. Delgado’s group did not support the new prostitution law, ironically. But some of those who argued, in trying to keep indoor prostitution legal in Rhode Island, that prostitution is a "victimless crime" seemed unacquainted with the hellish and dangerous lives prostitutes endure. Many are driven into it by addiction, and by violent pimps who exploit their problems. This kind of abuse of our fellow human beings is not something society should condone and assist.

Rhode Island can be proud that it finally made it illegal last year. Rep. Joanne Giannini (D.-Providence), a compassionate woman who fought this scourge for years and found herself smeared and targeted for defeat as a consequence, is retiring after 16 years in the legislature. Her law, which will help combat much cruel exploitation, particularly of addicted women and runaway children, is a wonderful legacy.

It was vitally important that the state work to stop prostitution, because of the severe human cost in lives destroyed and associated crimes. Rehabilitation is also very costly ­ women on the street need extensive social services to break free ­ but tax dollars would be better spent helping the least fortunate among us than going into early retirements and fat pensions for those with political clout.

And we can be deeply grateful for people like Ms. Delgado, who refuse to give up, who take the suffering and wrongdoing of their past and turn them into service to others, especially those who are among the most scorned in our society. She is saving lives and helping her neighbors through her caring.

As I say, a very moving story, just as powerful today as it would have been 2,000 years ago.

Edward Achorn ( eachorn@projo.com) is The Journal’s deputy editorial-pages editor.