During this time of joy and celebration, millions of families are separated by mass incarceration. One way to help is by donating to the nonprofits that fight to unite them. To get you started, we here at Nation Inside thought we’d highlight some particularly dynamic grassroots groups.
If you’re looking to make tax-deductible donations before the end of the year, the following list is a great place to start.
1) Campaign for Prison Phone Justice
The Campaign for Prison Phone Justice fights to keep families together by keeping them in contact. That means beating back abusive phone rates, and halting a trend that’s seen face-to-face jail and prison visits replaced with impersonal video visits.
2) Prison Legal News
Read in hundreds of jails and prisons across the country, PLN is the nation’s largest print publication for the incarcerated, and supporting it is a strategic way to support media and organizing that helps the incarcerated fight for their rights.
3) Texas Inmate Families Association
TIFA brings the families of the incarcerated together in a powerful, grassroots movement that spans the Lone Star State. In February, they’ll hold their 2nd “Texas Families for Justice Rally” outside the state capitol building.
4) Resource Help for the Disadvantage
With an origin story that begins in a church basement, RIHD is changing how criminal justice works in Virginia by organizing an annual justice tour; bus rides to faraway prisons; and legislative actions—among other activities.
5) Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform
VCJR believes the state will save money and create more productive communities by limiting incarceration to what works, based on evidence, and redirecting spending to job training, treatment, and education.
6) Ex-Prisoners and Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement
A statewide organizing effort mobilizing the formerly incarcerated and their families in Massachusetts, EPOCA won a series of criminal justice reform victories this year, and is sure to win more in 2017.
7) Justice for Families
Justice For Families works for families and to implement systemic criminal justice reform that ends mass criminalization, particularly for youth and communities of color.
8) Voice of the Experienced
VOTE is fighting hard to end mass incarceration in Louisiana, and recently filed a lawsuit to reinstate the voting rights of 70,000 people disenfranchised by the criminal justice system.
9) Arkansas CURE
They pool their money together to cover the cost of mailings and to raise funds for legislative action. Arkansas CURE is advocating for meaningful change for prisoners through smarter legislation.
10) Oklahoma CURE
Each month families and activists gather together to read letters from the incarcerated and push for change in Oklahoma. Oklahoma Cure is a grassroots group amplifying the voices of those inside.