Lorenzo Louden
Lorenzo
Louden was born in 1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas.
At the age of one, his family moved to the Westside of Chicago.
Every child should have a fair chance at success in life. But
growing up on the Westside of Chicago in the 60s and 70s didn’t
always provide the best opportunities for a young black male raised
without a father.
At the very tender age of twelve, he voluntarily became a member in
a very prominent, but treacherous gang in the K-Town area of Chicago. His gang
related activities led him to a life of crime and an extensive rap
sheet. In 1977 he was arrested and held in the Cook County
jail for approximately 2½ years only to be sentenced to the
Department of Corrections for 50-60 years as an indeterminate
sentence. He was required to serve a minimum of ten years
before qualifying for a parole review hearing.
While incarcerated, he came through the ranks of a soldier and was
promoted to a gang chief for one of the largest street organizations
in Chicago. This
promotion established him as the chief of over 500 gang members in
one of Illinois’ three
maximum-security facilities at that time. In 1987, he was
afforded the opportunity to sever ties with this organization.
In 1991, he attended a church service led by a former inmate, who
ironically at one time was his cellmate. During this service,
his former cellmate preached an anointed word, which touched
Lorenzo’s heart and he gave his life to Christ. Lorenzo was
baptized a few weeks later.
From 1987 to 1994 Lorenzo participated in seven annual parole
hearings. Three weeks after the seventh parole hearing,
Lorenzo was finally granted parole. Miraculously, he was
then released within 24 hours of his parole notice, which was the
first time in Illinois history that an inmate was
expeditiously released. With such short notice he was without
parole plans or an agent and paroled to
Mount Vernon,
IL. He was required to make
contact with the local parole office in
Mount Vernon within three days of his
release.
He then moved to
Springfield,
IL and acquired full-time
employment, later to become self-employed. Though faced with
many test and trials of prison life for seventeen years, he acquired
his GED and four associate degrees during this time. Lorenzo
successfully served over 10 years on parole without incident and was
released in November 2004. He is married to
Bevey Louden and is well
respected in the community. As a founder of Tower
of Refuge, Inc., Lorenzo actively contributes to
the successful reintegration of former inmates.
Tower of Refuge
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