Yesterday KPBS's Maya Trabulsi introduced you to a mom mourning the murder of her son. Today she joins other moms of murdered sons and daughters as they go inside Centinela State Prison to break down the walls between victim and offender.

VO: It's 7 o'clock in the morning, somewhere off interstate 8.

NAT: "We'll see you at the prison?"

VO: Just as they do every Monday, a group named Mothers with a Message is convoying to an hour East of San Diego.

DENNIS: "We are going to Centinela State Prison today. It is a level 43 and level 3 prison. Meaning level 4 is the highest, level 5 is death row, level 4 is maximum security."

VO: Dennis Martinez specializes in preparing high-risk offenders to face the parole board.

VO: :But before they face the board, they have to face Mothers with a Message first.

VO: These women represent the countless local moms who have buried their sons and daughters, murdered by people like the ones they face today.

VO: The group starts in D-yard, a level 3 high security part of the prison. The moms and the inmates take their seats inside prison chapel

NAT: "Thank you for being here. My name is Bevelynn and I'm from southeastern San Diego."

VO: Bevelynn Bravo son was killed in 2012.

NAT: "We all died with him. Me and my entire family were killed that night as well."

VO: She says many prisoners don't really think about what happens to a victim's family once they start serving their time.

NATS: "Some of you did not get to see your victim. You do not know what happened or you always wanted to apologize but you just couldn't. We are here to be that face for you"

VO: Lisa Ortiz talks about the murder of her daughter.

NAT: "She wanted to live. When she was lying on the street after she had been shot she asked the officer 'am i going to be ok?' She was scared, he told me, she was scared."

VO: The group then moves to B-yard. Level 4, maximum security. It's a sea of blue and green uniforms as each inmate is carefully patted down by one of several guards before they are allowed to enter the classroom. Some of these men have been in prison since they were teenagers, and some may never be eligible for parole. And those that do get out may or may not be changed.

VO: But for now, they have come to listen.

NATS: moms

VO: And even to say sorry.

Inmate Hernandez: "I'm sorry. Sorry. Doesn't cover it. Sorry. Sorry. To a lot of people is a word and it doesn't cover the pain. How do you, how do you give a mom, her child back? You can't, how do you give that the children their dad back? You can't."

Inmate Cruz: "I love this class. I know I owe them more than an apology. I owe them my life. I regret ever making such decision that took what was to me a gang member was a son to his mother, was an uncle."

Inmate Bonilla: "It took me like two days to get over just her message, her story, just feeling her staring at me. It was, I felt it, it, it hurt. And then, uh, that's when we came together and we said, what can we do? What can we give back?"

VO: The inmates formed a committee across racial lines and organized an auction of 'art from behind the walls.'

NATS: Promotional video of Dennis with Moms promoting art show. "The guys from Centinela State Prison B-yard donated all their art and all the proceeds go to Mothers with a Message.

DENNIS: "And next thing you know, black, white, brown, it didn't even matter what ratio, they were coming together for a good cause. And some of the guys that couldn't draw would pay the artists something to draw a picture for them because they just wanted to participate in this"

VO: The auction took place in a donated space in downtown San Diego where /the inmates pen and pencil drawings, watercolors, and pastel art were displayed on tables in a donated space in downtown San Diego.

VO: Maria Moore is married to one of the inmates who organized the donation. She reads from a letter written by the men at Centinela State Prison.

MARIA: "We now know that we have the power to assist in the healing process by displaying true remorse and by living amends."

DENNIS: "And if that's even the first time somebody in the prison had done something good, that feeling that they get, they're going to start chasing that and the next thing you know that life is changed and they are going to get out of prison and they're going to go home and they're going to become a productive member of society. That's how that ripple effect works."

VO: All pieces were sold. Proceeds that will be donated to the families of new victims to help pay for headstones, burial clothes, or mortuary costs. A small token to ease the life sentence still being served by those left behind.

NAT: EMCY rapping 'Crooked Path.'

VO: Maya Trabulsi, KPBS News.

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TAG: You can watch both parts of Maya Trabulsi's story about Mothers with a Message on our website, KPBS.org.