Former inmate gives back to those still serving time

LOUISVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – This is a story of redemption.

Christina Young’s life could have turned out very differently, but she was determined to go in a new direction.

Now, she’s helping others do the same.

Young is a free woman today, but four years ago she was behind bars serving time for a drug offense. She said it was those three and a half years in prison that turned her life around.

“I now see that it was all part of God’s timing. I had to go because I feel like in order to save my life because I don’t know what road I would have went down,” said Young.

Once she was released she devoted herself to fulfilling a new-found purpose.

“My journey to prison was to really help others. As soon as my foot hit the pavement I took off and I just been giving back,” said  Young.

Giving back to the people still serving time. She continued a program she began as a prisoner, tutoring fellow inmates preparing for the GED and life outside of prison.

Young spends time helping inmates at the jail in Winston County.

During the holiday season she wanted to do something extra for them. When the group met this week for a mock job fair Young surprised them with a home-cooked meal and gifts.

“Just to see the smile when they saw the food being out on the table, they automatically knew that’s for us. It brought joy to their faces,” said prison coordinator at Winston Choctaw County Correctional Facility Anthony McIntosh.

Young said she sees herself in the people she helps and hopes her story encourages them

“I took those experiences and I turned them around and I took that same energy that I had when I was doing things making wrong choices; I take that same energy to help anybody,” explained Young.

Her testimony is making a difference.

“Her story helps enlighten those men to know that somebody’s been where they are and have got out and made it,” said McIntosh.

Young also helps students and others in the community trying to get into the workforce through her tutoring program.