Five New Prisons, More Trainings, Extraordinary New Team Members, and a Matching Grant!
Dear Friends, 

This has been such an exciting year for Insight Prison Project! Since this time last year we have increased the programs we offer significantly, we've launched programming in five additional prisons, we've welcomed talented new staff & esteemed new Board members to the IPP family, we have trained over 60 new community volunteers, and we're hosting more volunteer trainings in the Fall.

We are also very excited to announce that a generous donor has offered a $20,000 Matching Gift to IPP. This means you can DOUBLE your donation to IPP today!! Tickets to our Annual 'Beyond the Bars' Fundraising Dinner also go on sale today, which is another great way to support the rare and life-changing work of Insight Prison Project.

Below are only a few highlights of what your past support has helped us accomplish in just the last 12 months:
  • The highly regarded Victim Offender Education Group (VOEG) launched in 
    Pelican Bay State Prison, which is a supermax institution that is ranked as one of the 10 worst prisons in the country and is regularly the subject of nationwide headlines. A team of IPP staff and volunteers introduced VOEG to the remote institution in May and report that the men there are immensely grateful for this long-awaited opportunity. 
  • IPP received a grant to replicate VOEG to the underserved institutions of Chuckawalla and Ironwood State Prisons, which means we will now be offering programming in 15 prisons, as well as three county jails, two juvenile institutions & several reentry facilities.
  • VOEG has also moved into Massachusetts! The New York Times covered this exciting development last July, and since then our Massachusetts team has been hard at work expanding Restorative Justice initiatives in the Commonwealth. 
  • Our Board of Directors welcomed some legendary names. Sunny Schwartz and Delia Ginorio are internationally recognized experts in criminal justice reform and Restorative Justice. Read more about their inspiring accomplishments on our website here. We're honored that these women have chosen to bring their incredible breadth of experience and expertise to IPP.
  • IPP is offering Victim Offender Dialogues (VODs) in three California penal institutions. A VOD provides victims of severe crime with an opportunity to have a structured, face-to-face meeting with their offender(s) in a secure, safe environment in order to facilitate a healing process. You can read about a moving recent VOD facilitated by IPP here. 
  • We trained 62 community members in the past year in the highly effective VOEG facilitation method and we have opened up the application process for two more trainings in September. 
These impressive accomplishments were made possible through dedicated and highly-trained volunteers, hardworking participants, a small-but-mighty staff, and generous donors like YOU. Thank you for all you have made possible. We simply could not do it without you. We look forward to sharing our progress with you as we continue to grow and offer our services to more prisoners and crime survivors in California and across the nation. 


With Much Gratitude,


 


  

Billie Mizell  

Interim Executive Director


 

 Please click below to DOUBLE your IPP donation today,

Register for an Upcoming Training, 

and/or 

Buy Tickets to the Always Inspiring 

Annual 'Beyond the Bars' Dinner.


 
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 Click HERE to make a  donation and DOUBLE  your impact today!
Click HERE for more info on upcoming trainings.
Please note registration deadline is July 23 at 12p.
Click HERE to buy your ticket(s) to the inspiring   'Beyond the  Bars' Dinner.
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to IPP
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"Your contribution indicates that you believe the men inside prison are redeemable. And we are!! They say that doing time is easy. But doing the work of IPP is hard--in a good way. When one discovers what went wrong in one's life and takes accountability for one's transgressions... I call that justice! How do we as a society want these men to return? For my community I pray that they have a chance to participate in programs like Insight Prison Project's to be exposed to new possibilities in life."  -R.F. 

"The programs I have taken have revolutionized my life. VOEG taught me how to take accountability for my actions, thoughts, and how to connect with my emotions... 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."  -K.L.


"IPP gives survivors a platform, a chance to really be heard, which has been very healing for me and for my daughter. The ancient Greek definition of vengeance was: The full application of justice. That's what I was looking for when my husband was killed. IPP understands that the full application of justice is not as easy as locking someone up and keeping them away from seeing the harm they caused. I got real justice when the man who took my husband's life applied what he learned through VOEG and connected the dots and became able to demonstrate accountability and empathy. I have been involved with IPP for over a decade now, and I see the transformation of offenders on the inside and on the outside. When the men who have graduated with IPP come out, they are not just living crime-free lives, they are making a real contribution to our communities. That's justice."
-Patty O'Reilly

Our Mission: Insight Prison Project transforms the lives of those impacted by incarceration through programs designed to develop behavior inspired by insight, accountability and compassion.

 

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

 
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PO Box 151642, San Rafael, CA 94915 · 415.459.9800