Voices From Inside

"Before I came to VFI, I had one hobby, drinking or using drugs. Thanks to you I have a new hobby and outlook on life and myself. I am slowly learning about me, my feelings, and who I am."

For 17 years, Voices from Inside has provided more than 2000 currently and formerly incarcerated women with a supportive environment where they can express themselves creatively, develop their writing and speaking skills, and, often for the first time, be listened to with respect, attention, and appreciation.   Through their participation in our writing groups, women who are or were incarcerated find their own voices, rebuild their self-confidence, and begin to see new possibilities for themselves.

 

Participating in VFI workshops has often inspired women to further their education.   

Participants have completed their HiSET (GED), and many have gone on to college. One VFI alumna has her Masters in Social Work and another is a published playwright who graduated from Smith College.

Some formerly incarcerated women are trained writing group facilitators, leading writing groups so they can “pay it forward” and mentor other women who have been incarcerated.

 

What are the challenges facing incarcerated women when they are released? 

At least 200 women are released from Hampden County jails each year, one-third for the second or third time. In our communities here in Western Mass, hundreds of women are at risk for re-incarceration.

These women face significant barriers to successful re-entry. Many leave jail with no self-confidence, few job skills and little education. In fact, over half of the women released lack a GED or high school diploma. Most have mental health issues, often the result of past trauma and abuse.

Women frequently go back to the same neighborhoods, the same environments, and the same social contacts that encouraged drug use and crime or where they are likely to be victimized by crime themselves. Many of the women have extremely limited social networks and simply don’t know anyone who has graduated from college, holds a satisfying job, or even lives a stable life with positive relationships. They have little connection with community members who can be positive role models and mentors.  

In addition, the women face tremendous stigma and discrimination, often perpetuated by community members who have had little or no contact with women who have been incarcerated. As a result, previously incarcerated women urgently need opportunities to experience positive connections with community members and envision new possibilities for themselves. VFI helps to provide these opportunities to women who have been in jail so they may be welcomed back into their communities as creative human beings who have valuable things to say and important contributions to make.

Help us continue to reach out to women and children who are or have been incarcerated, or who have been at risk for or affected by incarceration in their family--

In the last couple of years, we have added a new writing group for adolescent girls at risk in South Hadley and another workshop for court involved homeless mothers and their children in Springfield.   We also continue to offer a very special workshop at the Women’s Correctional Center in Chicopee:  the Family Storybook Project in which mothers at the jail write stories for their children.  The children then illustrate the stories on visitation days at the jail.  The stories and pictures are compiled into a storybook for each child, printed, and then given to the children, becoming a meaningful way to maintain the connection between family members who are in jail and their children.

 

"Each story I write [in this workshop] is closer to mending a broken heart."

Voices from Inside provides a unique service that helps women see themselves differently, increases their skills and self-confidence, and enables them to believe they can build a new life. Please join with us so that we can reach more women!

Your donation will help women who have been incarcerated gain the skills, confidence and hope to rebuild their lives.