Why are we here?

Roderick John Holt has had a life and a half so far. A lot of the drama has been because of some less than ideal choices that had him on the wrong side of addiction and substance abuse and ultimately on the wrong side of the law.

Recently, he was unexpectedly released from prison late on a Friday afternoon with no money, no phone numbers, no place to stay as he was released straight from court. On a normal basis being released from prison early would be wonderful news, but it took Roderick three days to be able to contact his family, and when we finally heard from him he had spent days without much food and still in the same clothes he was released in.

As his family, we are aware more than most of some of the bad decisions of his past, but we are also aware that he wasn’t given the same lot in life as we were. We weren’t removed from our parents and have grown up with the love of our natural mother and father. There are many other hard elements to his life that is not appropriate to share on his behalf on the internet.

Roderick has many things:

• He has an addiction to alcohol and a tendency to be addicted to illegal substances.
• He has a criminal record.
• He has become institutionalised
• He has a family who loves him dearly regardless of what mistakes he has made
• He has an incredible God given gift of art and this gift is a symbol of the grace of God.

Will this time be the time that Roderick can get back on his feet, stay away from the alcohol and substance abuse and live a good and well-functioning life?

Who knows. We hope and pray it will be.

What we do know is that his art is wonderful and emotional and valuable and that it looks great hanging on your wall.

We also know that God’s grace is about undeserved and unmerited favour. Therefore we are asking you to contribute to help Roderick get back on his feet not because you are donating to a man who will never make a mistake again. However, you will contribute to a better chance of rehabilitation.

His brother Luke’s oldest memory:

I was eight years old when Roderick first went to jail. I had no real idea what prison was and why on earth they were taking my brother there. All I remember was the house being full of emotion while I sat in the fetal position in the corner of my bedroom. I do not recall where most of the family was but mum and Roderick were in the room crying and screaming. He was being forced to pack, or leave, or just to get his head around it being about to happen. He was just crying at the top of his lungs, “What about my little brother? WHAT ABOUT MY LITTLE BROTHER?”

That to date is still the most emotional memory I have in my life. I grew up torn at the loss of my big brother with no viable and real explanation for what or why it had happened. I was eight, what could I possibly understand about something as massive as this?

However, he was just twelve years old. What could he possibly understand about how to navigate something as massive as this?

After so many stints in prison, life is processed a little differently. He is staying in our home when I write this and he recently finished eating pork crackling for the first time in years, before sitting on the back deck (by the lagoon style swimming pool) painting and watching an iPad. Then in a conversation about parole visits, out of frustration he said, “It would have just been easier to stay in jail.”

Such is the stress and pressure of readjusting to life outside and the fear of messing up, getting caught messing up, and failing at life…AGAIN. How could someone possibly consider life in prison ‘easier’ than pork crackling and painting by the pool?

I hope this is the time God gets a hold of Roderick and transforms him and gives him healing and peace from the hurts and memories of the past.

I sit here in my middle class arm-chair, paid for by my life of reasonable choices with tears in my eyes asking the question, “What about my big brother? WHAT ABOUT MY BIG BROTHER?”

I hope you contribute to this project because you like his art and want some of it. But I also hope you contribute a little bit more, not because this is a story of a guy who has made good choices and has earned this right, but because your heart is stirred to offer grace and a message to Roderick that his mistakes of the past do not define the value he has and what his future can look like.

• Website hosting and setup ($500 – most of the building of the site is donated)
• Digitisation and Stretching of art (approximately $1000)
• Rental bond to be on his own two feet (Up to $720)
• Transport ($1000 for an old but working and on the road car to help travel to possible work and parole visits.)

All prints needs to be digitised professionally in order to successfully create the fine art prints. This process has been booked in and will be a part of this successful project. This will enable more digitised art to be sold outside of this project.