The stories in “We Are Witnesses: Chicago” are not meant to soothe, but rather to agitate, to poke and prod our assumptions, to force us to wrangle with the way justice looks in Chicago. With candor and directness, these men and women speak to who we are as a city and who we are as a nation. They speak of forgiveness and of second chances. They speak of anguish alongside joy. They speak of vengeance pitted against forbearance. In their stories, they each in their own way pose the question: What is justice? It is a question we all need to contemplate.

The founder of Giving Others Dreams aims to transform the lives of prisoners through mental health workshops at the Cook County Jail.

Take a look at what Celia Colón does each day to help give people a second chance. 

Celia Colon recalls how as a young girl she was locked up inside a closet for hours when there was no responsible adult around to care for her.