This is Michael Lidel! He needs your help. After spending the last 18 years behind bars, transitioning back into society is difficult, and finding the resources to help individuals like Michael stay out of prison is close to impossible. Having gained his release through the governor's clemency, Michael’s story is one of redemption. After being chased into the streets at gunpoint at the age of 14 and going to prison, Michael eventually taught himself to read, and rising to gain his GED, associate's degree, a paralegal certification, and having written three books prior to his release. This fundraiser is working to help set Michael up for a successful and full future, which he measures only in the number of people he can help. Let's help him to do that!

MY BIO

Photo above and below owned and taken by University Beyond Bars (http://www.universitybeyondbars.org)

“I was born on December 10, 1956, the middle child of seven. For the most part, I considered life up to 14 to be relatively happy. We never had much, but we learned to make the best, (or the worst) of whatever was presented to us. My mother was the head of our household, and she was a hustler in the sense that she was a go-getter. Unfortunately, she had terrible taste in men. Enter my step-father George. Let’s suffice it to say that at his best, he wasn’t a good guy. At 14, he chased me into the streets at the point of a shotgun. That, for the most part, was my world, except for the time I spent locked up. I was more or less state raised, in and out of foster care, group homes, and later adult institutions. My family was a group of between 5-35 kids at any given time. We lived in, and roamed the area around the Pike Place Market trying to survive. It was a different place in the 60’s, but that was what was in my blood the last time I was arrested and sent to prison. Let me say here and now that I was never suited for a life of crime. In fact, I was a most inept criminal. Something had to give, and it did. I met my saving grace, and the love of my life, Shirley, now my wife of going on 19 years. She helped me to see that the world was much larger than myself, that in times of trouble, it wasn’t a shame to ask for help. In doing that, I learned to become that help.

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During the entire span of my last incarceration, I determined to stop being ignorant, uneducated, and uninformed.  I taught myself how to read and write, became an avid reader, got my GED and earned my high school diploma, an AA degree and, a certification as a paralegal/legal assistant in 2019, while volunteering my time to anyone who asked, or needed help. In some of the intervening years, I wrote five books and had three of them published in 2020, all of which led to my being released from prison by the grant of the Governor’s Clemency for my efforts. Even though I spent my time inside preparing to return outside, I had no real concept of just how difficult it would be to rejoin society. As an example, the federal government, through the IRS, doesn’t even recognize me as existing, because my SSN can’t be tracked. I have no credit presence, therefore, I don’t exist, so they say. My goals are simple: To find a means of employment that will allow me to take care of myself and the wife who took care of me during 18 years of prison life, to advocate for those who can’t advocate for themselves, to be a help, not a hinderance, and that will help me reach the personal goal of achieving at least a Master’s degree. My academic passion is teaching non-traditional mathematical concepts, all while trying not to be the nerd I know I am. If I was asked to name my proudest achievement, it would be that I was able to maintain my sense of humanity and not lose my soul to dark circumstance.” -Michael Lidel