"It's not our crime, but it's still our sentence": Pillars founder Verna McFelin 11 minutes to read By: Joanna Wane Pillars founder Verna McFelin talks to Joanna Wane about her life inside and outside the prison wire. People have long memories in a small town like Ōamaru. Not everyone is prepared to forgive the past, even four decades on, or willing to forget it. Verna McFelin was born in Ōamaru, like four generations before her on both sides of the family. It's where she met her husband, Paul, when they were both teenagers, where she gave birth to their four children, and where they opened the town's first pizza parlour.