The Education Justice Project held its Valentine’s edition of Reaching Inside Prisons with Purpose and Love Effect on Monday at Bethel A.M.E Church. Ripple Effect allows people in the community to write letters to people currently incarcerated, and it aims to keep families connected through the program.
Provided with cards, envelopes and a list of names to write to, attendees were encouraged to talk to the stranger about anything going on in their life — similar to how they might talk to a friend. With the caveat that this was not a pen-pal program, incarcerated individuals were encouraged to write back to the return address, though someone else might respond.
Annette Douglas, coordinator of Ripple Effect, has seen the impact of incarceration on many people in her life. Her personal interactions with incarceration and its effects showed her the importance of programs like the Ripple Effect.
“I was married to someone that was incarcerated,” Douglas said. “I learned a lot from him about what the letters meant to him … He would say, ‘I carry the mail around everywhere I go. I even share some of the mail with people that I know don’t get mail.’”
In terms of the logistics for who receives the letters, Douglas said that the letters are sent to people from the Champaign-Urbana community and surrounding areas.
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“We have written to people that are on death row, people in other states, also to people threatened by deportation,” Douglas said. “We wrote letters to them of support and love.”
Rebecca Ginsburg, University faculty member and current EJP director, spoke about the origins of the Ripple Effect, which started about 10 years ago. Having previously worked in Danville and Chicago, she was inspired by family members of incarcerated individuals to develop a program in C-U.
The Ripple Effect is just one of many initiatives undertaken by the EJP. It also runs a program teaching incarcerated individuals at Danville Correctional Center, including “for credit” courses in various subjects. The EJP further contributes to work in policy research at the state level.
The EJP creates a comprehensive guide on re-entry into the community for incarcerated individuals whose sentences are almost complete and a guide for incarcerated individuals facing deportation.
The guide was written in response to the lack of comprehensive guides on reentry and aims to be more helpful and realistic to the needs of incarcerated individuals.
The EJP will be hosting more events soon, which can be accessed by visiting its website.
