Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop

During 2022, Free Minds Book Club & Writing Workshop (Organization) served 1,260 incarcerated and formerly incarcerated youths and adults through four programs: Jail Book Club - weekly book club discussions and writing workshops with incarcerated teens and adults; we served 172 members in the Jail Book Club, including 51 women and 27 youths, as well as a dedicated Spanish language book club. 82% of our members completed their weekly reading assignments and 88% completed the writing assignments.Prison Book Club - a long-distance, correspondence-based book club and writing workshop with adults incarcerated in jails and prisons across the United States;750 members in 110 prisons across the country received 5 issues of our magazine, the Free Minds Connect, written by and for our members, and 3,139 books personally curated for them. Members wrote 1,174 letters to the office and submitted 1,282 original poems.Reentry Book Club - a reading, writing and job readiness program that includes wraparound case management and job and school placements for formerly incarcerated youths and adults; served 338 members in the Reentry Book Club, with up to 120 members joining weekly virtual book club and writing workshop sessions and support groups. 97% of members were employed, in school, or in vocational training programs and only 9% recidivated. On the Same Page - a community education program in which formerly incarcerated Reentry Book Club members share poetry and personal experiences with diverse audiences to bring greater awareness of the systemic causes and impact of mass incarceration and to build a multi-racial movement working together on solutions and repairing harm. We conducted 162 On the Same Page sessions with schools, corporate workplaces, and with community groups, led by 40 reentry members known as Poet Ambassadors.In April 2022, Free Minds launched our organizational strategic plan with an emphasis on building racial equity through developing a leadership incubator for Free Minds members. In 2022, we employed 3 formerly incarcerated Free Minds members as full-time staff, and 3 other members part-time. Members also worked on a contract basis in the On the Same Page program and as speakers and coalition builders as part of a self-organized team called the Changemakers. Free Minds members served as the Co-Chair and Vice Chair of the Thrive Under 25 coalition, which advances the rights and needs of youth and emerging adults under the age of 25 impacted by the carceral system. Members also designed programming as part of a Planning Committee and elected Leadership Council. Free Minds award-winning publication When You Hear Me (You Hear Us), published in 2021, received new accolades in 2022, including finalist for Best Anthology by the Foreword Indies Awards and was the 2022 winner in the category of Social/Political Poetry by the Independent Press Awards.In 2022, Free Minds received a grant from the NFL Foundation as part of the leagues Inspire Change social justice award to support our Peer Support Training Program. This grant, and the coverage we received, including a televised advertisement that the NFL ran during their games, brought greater visibility to our work.