By Jess Lawson | Communications & Outreach Coordinator
We are thrilled to announce that seven more apprentices have recently graduated from our Job Readiness and Life Skills Apprenticeship in April! They are brimming with knowledge about college preparation, resume writing, workplace problem solving, and more!
One of our mottoes here at Free Minds is “Show, don’t tell,” advice that works for creative writing and for life! We look for mentors who can show—not just tell—our apprentices how to lead a positive life because they are living proof of their own message. We work hard to provide workshop leaders that our apprentices can relate to and look up to, people who have come from similar backgrounds and overcome great obstacles to become successful business owners and community leaders. Some of these leaders include Donald Curtis from SOUL (Student Athletes to Understand Leadership), who taught our apprentices about college prep, and Larry Carroll, Sr. from KAAOS gym who trained the apprentices in physical fitness and wellbeing.
We are also thrilled to announce a new official member of our Reentry Team. Marcus Bullock, founder of the company and app Flikshop, has been working with Free Minds for several years leading our workshop on entrepreneurship and now will be our Apprenticeship Coordinator, co-facilitating our workshops and managing all aspects of our Apprenticeship program. Each apprentice will have an opportunity to work for Perspectives, a general contracting company that does residential and commercial remodeling. Perspectives is run by Marcus Bullock and Anthony Belton, both returning citizens and role models. A former inmate turned entrepreneur himself, Marcus brings invaluable energy, encouragement, and life experience to his new role as Reentry Coordinator.
Another invaluable component of our Apprenticeship is the chance for our apprentices to interact with high level business professionals as part of our partnership with the Advisory Board Company (ABC), who facilitated job role play workshops in which their wonderful employees acted out real-life workplace scenarios that Free Minds members have encountered on the job, and demonstrated ways to handle the various challenges. In each scenario, a Free Minds member acted as the boss or co-worker, and a member of the Advisory Board team acted as the employee. The folks from ABC continue to be courageous and flexible, especially since our roleplaying Free Minds members don’t go easy on them! The best part by far was when the Advisory Board volunteers shared their own personal stories of work challenges from both past and present jobs. Hearing that everyone goes through tough job stress makes the apprentices realize they are not alone. The opportunity to see a professional office and meet folks who really care about their success is invaluable for our apprentices.
Some of our apprentices also participated in the Our City Festival, a recent celebration of DC through film, music, and literature. A crowd gathered at the MLK Library on a Sunday afternoon to view "Our Voices," our collaborative show with Chris Ousley from the folk band Bumper Jacksons. The show opened with the talented spoken word artist Bomani Armah, and then seven Free Minds Poet Ambassadors performed an original spoken word piece. Each Poet Ambassador also individually shared poems written by fellow Free Minds members who are still incarcerated, backed up by musicians from the Chuck Brown trio, DC’s legendary go-go band.
"Our Voices, Our Voices, Our Voices are the key.
Now we feel accomplished, accepted, and free."
Combining the reflective process of writing and the creative process of performing with music made the collaboration and delivery all the more powerful. As poet Bomani Armah articulated, "The more these young men can tell their stories, the better off we all are."
None of these amazing ventures would have been possible without the dedicated support of people like you. Because of your support, our Free Minds members not only have their stories told, but they have their voices heard.
Thank you again for making our work possible!
Links:
By Julia Mascioli | Communications & Evaluation Specialist
By Julia Mascioli | Communications Specialist
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
