Vigil For Incarcerated Moms Held Outside Cook County Jail
CHICAGO (CBS) -- About three dozen people took part in a vigil today with an early Mother's Day message for those behind the razor wire at the Cook County Jail.
They gathered near Division 17 at the jail, where pregnant women are held. Some had hand-made signs, wishing inmates a happy Mother's Day. Most carried balloons.
Josephine Horrace Jackson said nobody was condoning what they did to get locked up, but said many with drug and mental health problems need help, not jail.
"We really hope that they can see us and they can hear use and just let them know that we care about them and we love them and we appreciate them and they are not forgotten and they matter to us," she said.
Mellissa Hernandez said she was jailed for drugs when her son was 3 years old.
"I was separated from my son. He didn't smile when he came to visit me," she said. "I didn't need incarceration, what I needed was help, I needed rehab, I needed help."
They wrote names on the balloons and released them, most getting blown into the branches of a tree where they were left to be seen by those on the inside of the razor wire.