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Multimedia presentation by
Martha Rial
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

	Martha Rial, Post-Gazette Correction/Clarification: The woman on the left in this photo, Allegheny County Jail inmate Tracy Kestner, is referred to as "Bonnie" in the audio track for this slideshow by Lydia's Place program cordinator Vernetta Byrd. The inmate's name is not Bonnie. Click photo for larger image.

Women sent to jail face an especially bleak reality in which they can lose everything, including children and home, says Vernetta Byrd, program coordinator with Lydia's Place, a nonprofit group that helps women in jail.

The organization was founded in 1993 by a group of county jail volunteers alarmed at what was happening to these women and their children. The goal of the faith-based group is to help women in jail make the transition back to the outside world and to help their children cope with a mother behind bars. The group's name is from the Bible, Acts 16:40: "After Paul and Silas came out of prison, they went to Lydia's house."

In this presentation, Ms. Byrd provides an insider's persepctive to scenes captured in images by the Post-Gazette's Martha Rial.

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