SuEllen Fried is an 81-year-old grandma from Lansing, KS. She is no stranger to Lansing Correctional, a prison that houses criminals such as robbers, murderers, and rapists.
Fried has never been afraid of them. It all began in the 1980s, when she decided to do a bit of volunteering. Little did she know that she'd become a permanent fixture at the prison. In 2013, CBS's Steve Hartman decided to see what exactly she does behind barbed wire fences and prison walls.
"I have never had one iota of fear," Fried said. "I believe that every single human being has an angel and a beast inside of them. And the more that we are willing to look at the beast, the more we are willing to hold onto the angels."
She's a part of a program called Reaching Out from Within. Fried shows prisoners how to work together to become kinder, empathetic people — and she is really good at it.
Around 50 percent of prisoners end up back in prison after they are released. For inmates in Fried's program, 90 percent of them don't return to crime.
Many of the inmates say Fried has a "grandmother effect" on them. When she shows them she cares, they feel like they suddenly can care about themselves.
"By her seeing something in us, it cuts a light on or sparks a kindle within us and tells us maybe we're not that bad," one inmate said.
Fried said she is addicted to "personal transformations," and that's why she continues to work with men society seems to have forgotten.
Please SHARE this grandmother's incredible work if you think she really is a "guardian angel."
