“Well, first of all, she’s an excellent employee,”

says former Warden Randy Treon. He’s referring to Barbara Brock, the grievance coordinator at the Sanders Estes Unit in Venus, Texas.

“She does an outstanding job,” Warden Treon says. “No matter what we give her, she’s competent, she does well. But, more importantly, she knows what we’re trying to accomplish here. She understands what MTC’s all about, and our desire to have a social impact. As the grievance coordinator, she’s not just trying to resolve issues and get the grievances done, she’s actually trying to fix things out there that make it easier for the men to go about their daily business.”

“I really like it here,” smiles Barbara, “I think working here, with my process with my job, it’s to ensure that the offenders are getting what they need per policy and that the staff is doing what they need to do per policy. And I feel like if we uphold that, and we’re showing these inmates what they need to do whenever they get out, to hope they don’t re-offend and get back in the system, I think we have a better impact, especially with our education and everything.”

When not at work, Barbara likes to spend time with her family.

“We have 4-wheelers. We will go to the lake, we’ll go to the rivers. Or we’ll do – usually every holiday for fall or Christmas – we do crafts with everybody. We get all the family together and do crafts together outside, and make decorations for the holidays.”

Though the spotlight is on Barbara for this story, and with good reason, former Warden Treon is grateful to all of his staff. As with all facilities, the pandemic presented tremendous challenges.

“But you got to keep it going. We’ve got a customer that expects certain things from us, and we have an offender population that depends on us to make sure that they’re getting the things they need before they get out. And the people that work here have been part of a core staff that has really stepped up. They’re here when you need them. They understand what MTC is trying to do, and they’re so dependable and so competent. I’m very proud of all of them. They’ve done an excellent job.”

Barbara is also grateful for the staff of Sanders Estes.

“We all get along,” she explains. “We try to communicate with each other. We try to make sure that everybody’s jobs are getting looked after, and everybody else is getting looked after. We make sure that the inmates are being taken care of. I see it throughout staff and inmates. My co-workers are fantastic.”