The Learning Center for Women in Prison
shameless self promotion... but it's for a good cause
Several years ago, a few fabulous women and I founded the Learning Center for Women in Prison, an organization which provides a college education to women in a state prison in Manhattan. We started it because some women incarcerated at the prison asked us to, and because we (and several studies) believe that a college education is what will make the difference for women when they are released from prison. We've been running the program as volunteers ever since. This year, our organization reached a few milestones: Bard College agreed to accredit and oversee the program through the Bard Prison Initiative, we received our 501 c(3) status, and we received substantial grants from the New York Women's Foundation, the New York City Council, the New York Junior League, and the State Senate(sorry, I'm too unskilled to do hyperlinks to all those organizations). This month, we hired our first staff person.
Last week, because we recevied a grant, we attended the New York Women's Foundation's "Celebrating Women" breakfast featuring Geraldine Ferraro, Madeline Albright, and Sarah Jones. We sat in a room full of women who are committed to helping women and girls improve their lives, and I was overwhelmed with the dreams, the initiative, the soul present in that space. I was grateful to be among the grantees, because many times over the past few years, the goal of an accredited college program in the prison has seemed impossible. The breakfast was the perfect setting to celebrate our dream becoming reality.
At the breakfast, just about every speaker quoted Margaret Mead ("Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.") I've heard that quote so many times, but this time it rang true.
To learn more about how you can help the Learning Center for Women in Prison, post a comment with your email address and I will happily contact you!
To join the New York Women's Foundation's action for women email alert, click here
http://www.nywf.org/take_action.html
1 comment:
Shameless self-promotion, ah yes, the essence of blogging! All joking aside though, it was great to hear more about the prison education program. The link to the New York Women's Foundation is both fascinating and inspiring, and they have some interesting events coming up in June. It's important to find ways to talk about these things for a whole bunch of reasons, one of which is to let others know how they can help. We're all way too caught up in our own lives and every now and then it's good to bump up against the awareness that our own good fortune comes with an obligation to share.
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