Volunteers Like This Mill Valley Woman Help Drive San Quentin’s Transformation

MILL VALLEY, CA — Twice a week, Dr. Toni Brayer, of Mill Valley, makes her way to the San Quentin correctional facility, historically a brutal and hopeless place but now brimming with possibility for the men inside

There, she will give any number of them their dignity and the advantage of her own good fortune as the 1852 prison, the oldest in California, turns the page on a dark past marked by public hangings, botched gas chamber executions, violent riots and severe overcrowding.

When the transformation is complete next year, corrections officials expect the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, as the Marin County landmark is now called, to stand as a national, evidence-backed model of how to help prisoners successfully re-enter society.

Volunteers like Brayer are vital cogs in the transformation.

The 77-year-old physician, who retired last year from a 40-year career as an internist in the San Francisco area, volunteers weekly for the Academic Peer Education Project. With the shift from punitive to restorative justice, inmates have access to an array of education, vocational and comprehensive reentry programs.

“We partner with inside inmates to teach math and literacy skills to men in preparation for them getting a GED,” Brayer told Patch. “Our students are eager to learn, and many have no formal education beyond grade school.”

The reasons vary. School may have been traumatic as they fell farther behind, and they may have been shy about reading aloud.

“We start where they are at and slowly increase their confidence and skills,” she said. “It is very rewarding work, and the inmates are grateful and kind to the volunteers.”

‘We Don’t Focus On The Crime’

San Quentin once housed more people on death row than any other prison in the United States, or for that matter, the Western Hemisphere, peaking at nearly 700 inmates awaiting execution in 2015. Those inmates have been transferred to other prisons, and the population today is smaller. Also, steps are taken to deter gang activity through a mix of intelligence gathering, segregation and rehabilitative programs.

But San Quentin is still a prison.

“It’s grim. It’s major lockup. It’s guards everywhere. It’s guns. It’s people dressed in prison uniforms. It’s lockdowns,” Brayer said.

The people inside have made grave mistakes. They’ve been convicted of a wide range of felony offenses such as first-degree murder, conspiracy, burglary, gun violence and other serious offenses, though as a volunteer, Brayer never asks, “How did you wind up here?”

“Unless someone wants to volunteer, we don’t focus on the crime,” Brayer said.

It’s not that consequential. No single crime defines the path to San Quentin, or any other U.S. prison.

Inmates face profound systemic challenges that influence their health and well-being. These challenges include pervasive racial disparities, low educational attainment, and high rates of mental health conditions and substance abuse. Other factors, such as pre-incarceration housing and income instability, also play a significant role.

“In medicine, it is becoming more known and recognized and talked about,” Brayer said.” These factors — certainly violence, early childhood experiences, stress and poor access to food — affect the health of all of us.”

Her retirement from private practice gave her the time to pursue volunteer work. Some of Brayer’s friends question, “Why would you do that?” They worry about her safety.

“I’ve always had an interest in social justice and rehabilitation, and because I live near San Quentin — it’s in my back yard — I’ve always had a curiosity about what goes on there,” she said.

“Many people wonder about the danger of walking into a prison yard, yet I feel completely safe there,” Brayer continued. “Once you’ve been cleared, there are inmates roaming around inside, and they’re all very friendly. They’re used to volunteers — it really is a model of rehabilitation. There are a lot of programs going on, many supported by inmates.”

‘Why Wouldn’t You Try To Grow?’

The one thing the men inside San Quentin have in common is their commitment to becoming better people.

“The people we work with have all come to terms with their crimes — and they call it their crime. No one is blaming anyone else. They all have taken responsibility for it, and are working within this system to improve themselves,” she said. “They are very passionate about getting an education, doing better, apologizing to their victims, staying in touch, being a better father, husband and person.”

Not all the men involved in the programs will see life outside the prison complex. In California, “if it’s 25 to life, you’re doing 25,” Brayer said, noting the parole process is long and arduous.

“Human nature is to adapt to your environment,” Brayer said. “If you have the opportunity, why wouldn’t you try to grow as a human? Even if you’re locked up, why wouldn’t you?”

Brayer’s volunteer work is a natural extension of her career as a physician and in her current work helping patients get healthy by managing their weight.

Because of her background, Brayer often builds literacy lessons around health care and nutrition. The programs are popular among inmates who want to stay healthy while they’re in prison.

“As part of that lesson, I saw their menu, and if they have a moment, they can go to the commissary, where the choices are terrible,” Brayer said. “It’s hard to teach that lesson when the choices are so restrictive.”

But it’s not impossible.

“One of our guys, who I worked with for two years but hadn’t seen for many months, came up to me the last time I was in and said, ‘Look, I’ve lost 30 pounds,’” Brayer said.

When she asked how he did it, he said he found success by “being careful with my food choices.”

‘It Makes Good Neighbors’

That’s a life skill the man will take with him when he leaves prison. It may seem a small thing, but access to healthy food is one of the determinants of social health.

“I have the capacity and time in my life to give back and to use the knowledge and skills as a teacher, physician and human being to help other people improve their lives,” she said. “Many of these men will be released after rehabilitation, and I believe my volunteerism is helping make a better society.”

They need to be able to read and write, to be able to fill out a job application, and to understand their rights and obligations.

“It’s critical to their success, and I’m doing my part to strengthen social justice,” Brayer said. “It makes good neighbors for all of us.”

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Patch People is a recurring feature telling the stories of readers, including their interests, passions, challenges, triumphs and seminal moments that resulted in profound change, with a goal of making us all feel a bit more connected. Or, you may want to talk about something entirely different, and that’s OK, too. Readers can submit their stories through this form or by email to beth.dalbey@patch.com.