This has been an exciting and productive year at Insight Prison Project, and, as an ally and friend of IPP, you have been a vital part of our growth as we promote programs for men, women and youth in prisons and jails which bring real healing from trauma and violence. We work with hundreds of prisoners every year who take on the courageous and heartfelt work of taking responsibility for their behavior, developing accountability for their actions and finding compassion for others. We teach hundreds more community members about these transformative trauma-healing practices as well. Perhaps the most compelling way of conveying the power of this transformative process is through the words of those who experience it:

San Quentin prisoner and IPP facilitator, Nghiep Lam has been involved in IPP programs for the past nine years. He speaks eloquently about the effect of IPP programs on his life:  "(t)he programs I have taken have revolutionized my life. If it wasn't for those programs I wouldn't be the man I am today....  V.O.E.G. (Victim Offender Education Group) taught me how to take accountability for my actions, thoughts, and how to connect with my emotions.... I am a believer in the healing practice of Yoga.  I have been an active Yogi for over two years now and look forward to the sessions each week...In order for a caterpillar to transform into a butterfly it needs a place to evolve.  I believe IPP programs offer that place for incarcerated men to transform into healers.  A changed person is like a pebble thrown into a pond, which create(s) a ripple in the water.  The more support a person is given, the more likely he is to become more than a pebble-instead, a boulder, which in turn creates a much larger wave."

With equal passion, crime survivor, Aileen Ford, also speaks about the power of being involved in IPP's transformative trauma-healing programs: "I continue moving forward with my own healing - to effectively give voice where it counts - to those individuals who have harmed (others). I have the opportunity to be a critical piece in the personal redemption of human beings seeking to evolve through IPP's transformative learning. I have no words to describe knowing that I have changed lives, brought light, relieved pain on both sides of the prison walls. A soul cannot be incarcerated, only a troubled mind in an all too often brutalized body. I participate because I believe in redemption, that light banishes darkness, and that freedom is an inside job. I participate because IPP is a bridge to accomplish exactly this. I participate because, quite simply, I must."

Please help us turn a pebble into a boulder, bring light into the darkness and build our capacity to reach more prisoners, crime survivors and community members in the process of expanding justice and trauma-healing for all by making a donation to support our transformative work.

With deepest thanks,

Our Vision: Insight Prison Project envisions a vibrant and just society that inspires individual transformation beyond the walls of both personal and institutional incarceration.

www.InsightPrisonProject.org