Tilley’s Bon Air Blog Post

Driving through the campus, I first noticed chainlink fences topped with barbed wire swirls.  I was surprised because they made the place seem foreboding and intimidating which is not what I was expecting.  Even though my first impression was fear, once I spent a little more time there I felt comfortable.  Other than those wires and the door which required buzzing in, nothing else really looked like a prison.  There were picnic tables, conference rooms, and beautiful landscapes.  It sort of felt like a summer camp.

Typically, when I fill out forms, they’re never perfect.  I always leave things blank and skip around only filling in the things I know.  Everywhere this has been accepted, even on medical forms. But it was not accepted at Bon Air.  I had to know every answer, which led me to believe that there will be an underlying strictness to the program because after all, these people have been convicted of something awful, and volunteer coordinators need to know if we will be able to handle ourselves.