Outskirts Press, INC.

Karen Gilliam faced many obstacles on her road to becoming an Author. She was born in the marital Unit of Bennie and Annie Gray. Growing up, her parents were always there for her and made sure she had everything she needed. Her parents did everything they could to shield her from harm, but as she got older, she gravitated to the wrong crowd. Nearly 30 years ago, she was convicted of Armed Robbery Party to a Crime. Karen spent one week in jail before she was released. During that time, everything her father had preached to her came rushing back to her. When Karen walked out of the Milwaukee County jail, she never looked back. She completed her 5 years of probation, then she enrolled in college. She now has a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice and a Master Degree in Human Services. She has worked in the Social Services field for greater than 20 years. She worked as an Economic Support Specialist which assisted individuals obtaining or maintaining their FoodShare and Medicaid Benefits; a Recovery Support Specialist assisting individuals with accessing community resources after retuning back to the community from a correctional institution; Disability Benefits Specialist assisting the disabled with applying for Social Security Benefits and a Juvenile Probation Officer. Karen is now a strong advocate for continuing education, taking up a trade or accessing and exploiting those hiding talents.