Support for DC's Previously Incarcerated Youth

Dear Free Minds Friends, 

Spring is just around the corner, and we can’t wait for what the season has in store for us!  Thanks to your generous support, our Free Minds reentry members reached some incredible milestones this past winter. They developed office and interview skills in our apprenticeship program, gained confidence and public speaking experience at events in schools and the community, and discovered the possibilities of higher education by touring a college campus! Check out some of the highlights below:

Spoken Word with High School Poets

Last month, Free Minds members had the unique opportunity to meet with the slam poetry team at Wilson High School. These amazing teen poets performed for our members and gave practical tips about how to deliver your poem to an audience with confidence and feeling. In exchange, the team learned from our Free Minds poets about how writing encouraged and inspired them while they were incarcerated. One Wilson High School student said of the experience:

“The program has inspired my own writing future and goals because it encourages me to try my best and not slip up and fall into the bad crowd. It also makes me want to help others.”

Another student added:

“[Free Minds members] really made a major turnaround...I’m proud of these young men.”

Our members Terrelle and Delonte were so inspired that they have begun to attend poetry slams and open mic nights around DC! And as an organization Free Minds is starting to expand into more genres of written and verbal communication. We just hosted a concert in partnership with Carpe Diem Community Choir in which our members had the opportunity to show off their musical, hip-hop, and spoken word talents. We are thrilled to be able to expose our members to different forms of creative expression.

Apprenticeship Graduation

This February, we welcomed two new apprentices to our week-long job readiness program—Delonte and Mark. They spent the week updating their resumes, learning about office etiquette, doing mock-interviews, practicing breathing techniques during a stress management session, and creating “vision boards” mapping their hopes and goals for the future. In addition to preparing for their job search, Delonte and Mark also provided program support for our book club at the DC Jail; they gave poetry feedback on our Writing Blog, wrote articles for our newsletter to federal prison, and created writing prompts for the teenagers currently incarcerated at the juvenile block of the DC Jail. The opportunity to give back to the same program that they benefited from as teens empowers our apprentices to continue to impact their community in positive ways.

The apprenticeship culminated with a graduation ceremony honoring the achievements of six Free Minds members who have successfully completed the apprenticeship program. Unlikely Brothers co-author Michael Mattocks spoke about his own inspiring journey from living in homeless shelters and dealing drugs as a teenager to his current life as a dedicated husband and father who works two jobs to support his family. He told the apprenticeship graduates:

“I'm proud of all of you because I see myself in you, and want you to know that you should never give up. I plan to visit Free Minds a lot more often now because I see the love that they’re giving out.”

Free Minds apprenticeship graduate Kwame spoke about how cathartic it was for him to find a positive and safe space to process through challenging situations in his life:

“I have a hard time trusting people and I've never met anyone my age who has accepted me as I am.  I want to thank everyone at Free Minds for listening to me and being there for me through everything I’m going through. I never had that before.”

YSC—Helping the Next Generation of Youth

Our “On the Same Page” violence prevention initiative continues to make a difference in the lives of DC youth. This January we had the opportunity to speak with a unit at DC’s Youth Services Center (YSC), a juvenile detention center. Our Free Minds poets had a candid and poignant conversation with one of the YSC units about the path the youth were heading down. Reentry member Trae described how his experience with Free Minds book club at the DC jail gave him the push he needed to change his former habits:

“[At the jail] I started writing every night, reading books. My addiction was the streets…but if you change where you are and who you’re with, you change yourself. If the streets are your addiction, you gotta find yourself something else to do.”

One of the juveniles at YSC responded to a Free Minds poem dedicated to a member’s younger brother by relaying his own family experience:

“My father and my brother were both in federal prison. But I’m trying to stop that cycle. I’m trying to do something different. I’m trying to prove that running the streets don’t run in our family.”

He pointed to our literary journal and said: “This book is changing my life.”

Reading and writing truly do have the power to transform lives. Thanks to you, our members are turning their lives around and working together to build a stronger, safer community. We couldn’t do it without your support!

Links:

• Find out more about us on our website!
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• Comment on our Writing Blog!

Dear Free Minds Friends,

We can’t believe winter is already upon us! This fall has flown by, and our Reentry members have achieved some fabulous milestones in recent months. This Thanksgiving & holiday season, we are so thankful for the opportunity to work with such resilient and motivated youth and to help them foster new skills, support systems, and leadership. And of course, we are filled with gratitude for supporters like you, who help make our initiatives a reality.

Here’s a taste of what we’ve been up to recently:

Marymount University Learning Disabilities Conference

In October, Free Minds members were invited to speak at Marymount University of Virginia, for the annual Learning Disabilities Association of Virginia Conference. Free Minds members met with the Department of Education, including administrators and teachers.  They read poetry and spoke about their experiences with the education system.  By sharing their stories with educators, the Free Minds writers are working with the Department of Education to promote a future where our schools can better understand and serve young people in need. Our members wrote poems just for that day about what support they could have used when they were in school. Read an excerpt from Michael’s poem “Don’t Restrain Ur Mind!” about learning differently:

Was drifting off in class so I was labeled not bright
Was flushed down the school to prison pipeline
That’s just not right

So before I let them place the label on me as being dumb
Because of a misperception of how I look and where I’m from
I tune out the naysayers and march on to the sound of my own D.R.U.M.
Don’t Restrain Ur Mind!

Probation Officers Presentation

In a Free Minds first, members gave a presentation to probation officers.  They spoke about the impact of Free Minds, books, and writing.  They each read one of their poems, and one member shared a letter from a young man who is still incarcerated.  The probation officers were incredibly moved by the presentation and especially the success stories. Free Minds member Latrae commented on the experience:

"All of us talking to the probation officers showed them that people who have been incarcerated can change. That they won't always be doing the same things that they did before as they might think. I think they were happy to see that."

Social work student forms Free Minds Reentry partnerships

This fall, Free Minds welcomed Heather Galbreath to the Free Minds Family; Heather is pursuing her Master of Social Work degree at Howard University, and doing a year-long internship with Free Minds to help expand our Reentry Support program. Heather and Keela, our Program Manager, are working hard to find job training and educational placements for our members. Heather performs site visits with reentry service providers and works closely with our members to determine which programs are a good fit for them. Heather first met Free Minds when Tara and reentry members spoke at one of her classes at Howard University; now Heather is helping us spread the word and form more partnerships with like-minded organizations!

“Although I have only been here for a short time, working with the Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop has been an eye opening experience for me. When you’re a student you often only learn from what you read in a text book or from what you are told by a teacher, but actually being able to work with the population that you’re learning about affords an entirely different education. I’m truly grateful for the opportunity to work with Free Minds...” -Heather

On the Same Page events at schools pick up speed

Our On the Same Page violence prevention program has been gaining more momentum lately thanks to our wonderful partnerships with the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) and the PEN/Faulkner foundation. The program, which brings Free Minds poets into high schools to talk about their writing and the causes and effects of youth incarceration, is an invaluable experience for students and Free Minds members alike. This fall, Free Minds members spoke with nearly 50 students at Washington Metropolitan High School, an alternative public high school. They shared their personal stories of change and inspired students to change their own lives for the better.

Our poets also visited a constitutional law and youth justice class at Cesar Chavez, a charter school located on Capitol Hill. As future change-makers and advocates for youth justice, the students expressed their deep appreciation for the opportunity to hear first-hand about the youth experience in the adult system. After the event, one of the students said, "I appreciate the determination the Free Minds members have, especially towards the community." Our reentry member Mike, who spoke at Cesar Chavez, told us about why reaching out to high school students is so powerful to him:

“I like doing On the Same Page because I get to show the youngin’s how to express their feelings through poetry and talking rather than putting a hand on someone. I share my personal experiences so they can learn from my mistakes and run with it. One of the big problems today is that there are no role models out here for these youngin’s. I like to help other people, and not enough people do that out here.”-Mike

We’ve seen such a change in Mike since he first started in the book club. Then, he was dealing with his anger over his family members’ addiction problems and losing his siblings to the foster care system. Now, with the tools of reading and writing to help him process his own emotions, he is able to help other kids going through similar experiences. Way to go, Mike!  

Your generous support provides the resources to help more young men like Mike to find employment or education, express themselves through writing and public speaking, and turn their lives in a positive direction. THANK YOU from all of us at Free Minds for believing in the transformative power of writing!

Links:

• Find out more about us on our website
• Like us on Facebook!
• Comment on our blog!