INTERNATIONAL PRISONER'S FAMILY CONFERENCE
I was recently approached by Jacquelyn Frank (Arts & Culture Chairperson) for the INTERNATIONAL PRISONER’S FAMILY CONFERENCE located in Spring Branch, TX. Turns out that their organization is holding a Fall (October 2021) Inmate Arts and Crafts Competition, Auction and Sale.
I checked it out and as Director of PATH, I give it my thumbs up! Monies raised will not only go toward substantial $ cash awards directly paid out to participating inmate artist winners, but for children and families of those incarcerated.
Below is text taken verbatim from their website:
“The organization was initiated in 2009 as a project of Community Solutions of El Paso, a nonprofit grassroots organization then providing services to children and families impacted by the criminal justice system since 2001. The parent organization addressed three critical factors preventing success for far too many returning citizens and their families:
1. Shame, embarrassment and fear silenced the prison family. Upon leaving prison, most returning citizens (and their loved ones) wanted to bury the entire traumatic experience. Their resulting silence denied the larger community the opportunity to know the outstanding individuals comprising the prison family.
2. Hiding in shame and fear created an Empathy Gap, a protective shield that impedes, and in many cases prevents successful community reentry and family reintegration for those affected by incarceration. Unknowing community members worked alongside of former prisoners; sat right next to prison family members in their houses of worship; attended school together with a silent barrier preventing community members from ever knowing their circumstances – their pain.
3. All persons affected by the criminal justice system are traumatized, and we are all affected and most people don’t even know it.
People fear what they don’t know. The inability to personally know prisoners or their loved ones prevents the community from embracing the exceptional intelligence and talents of those directly impacted by incarceration personally and/or professionally. It was believed the conference could and would have a Ripple Effect opening various avenues for bridging that important Empathy Gap. It has”.
For more information about this organization, guidelines and submission entry forms, email: jbfrank@eiu.edu, or contact info@prisonersfamilyconference.org
Blessings,
Leslie Lakes, Director