A Word from the "Unacceptable"

by Community Relations Manager Clinton "CeCe" Bell

For much of my life, I have chased acceptance. I sought it in the streets, among the ranks of gangs that promised brotherhood but delivered betrayal. I searched for it in relationships that weren’t safe, mistaking control for love. I looked for it in communities that saw me only through the lens of my past—my worst decisions, the streets I came from, the weight of my experiences. No matter where I turned, I felt like an outsider, like someone pressing their face against the glass of a world I could see but not touch.

I stood on the other side of the fence, watching a celebration I wasn’t invited to. I heard the music but couldn’t dance. I heard the sounds of laughter, of families coming together, of people congratulating each other on their milestones. I saw what it meant to belong—to be part of something stable, safe, and meaningful. But it was always from a distance. I longed for that feeling, but it never felt like it was meant for me.

Until now.

Board President Andrea Gordon and Community Relations Manager CeCe Bell, both Dismas Alumni, during a Dismas Pumpkin Carving Competition. (October 2024)

Now, I am in a place that doesn’t just talk about belonging—it embodies it. A place where acceptance isn’t conditional, where you don’t have to prove your worth before you’re welcomed. Here, I am given space to become. To grow. To explore who I want to be within my community, rather than be confined by who I once was. I am given access to resources, to support, to encouragement, and—most importantly—to dignity. For the first time, I am not merely tolerated; I am valued.

I no longer stand outside the fence. I am at the party. I am dancing. I am among people who see me not as a sum of my mistakes but as a person with dreams, potential, and purpose. I am learning that I am worthy of occupying spaces that once felt off-limits. That I am not an outsider.

That I am acceptable.