Vonda Harrell

Her childhood filled with disappointment, anger and self-doubt should have left her scarred for life. Instead, Scottie Barnes is on a mission to bring hope and healing to the heartbroken children of prison inmates.

SUNDAY AFTERNOONS WERE DIFFERENT for little Scottie. Instead of spending her free hours playing with neighborhood friends, reading a favorite storybook or enjoying a refreshing catnap, she was making memories of another kind. Her childhood recollections include barbed-wire fencing, heavy security gates and stern prison guards.

Throughout her young life, Scottie's father was in and out of jails and prisons all across the Southeast. Despite his bootlegging, gambling and drug dealing ways, Scottie's mother loved James "Babe" Pennell and was faithful to visit him every weekend. Scottie tagged along for many years. But the visits offered her no joy, no comfort and no peace.