Hello all!
My first couple of weeks with the Louisiana Prison Education Coalition (LPEC) and its umbrella organization Operation Restoration have been a blast, I’m so excited to be back at it with an incredible team of women!
Operation Restoration is an organization dedicated to helping formerly incarcerated women and girls access higher education and the fundamental tools needed to help them with reentry. LPEC functions within Operation Restoration to meet education needs by increasing access to current education programs and developing and implementing new higher education programs in prison and re-entry facilities. Now located in the Four Freedoms building in Central City, Operation Restoration is almost ready to restart its Women FIRST Clinic, which provides classes for formerly incarcerated women to pursue educational goals. The clinic also provides transportation, childcare, dinner, and individual tutoring, clearing a path for women to work towards their academic goals.
Also located in the new building is the Closet, a new resource center for women transitioning back into their community following incarceration where there are clothes, shoes, and accessories free of charge for formerly incarcerated women. In addition, last semester in partnership with Tulane University, OR began offering college level courses to women incarcerated at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women. The first cohort had 19 women who were enrolled in an English course with a focus on Women and the Law, and we are excited to plan for next semester and beyond!
My responsibilities include general development work, research, grant writing, and event organization. Along with programming, OR and LPEC’s legislative goals are a major focus, and research, networking and communication around these issues are daily responsibilities.
I first started working with Annies Freitas from LPEC when I took a class at Tulane on Media and Criminal Justice. I interviewed Annie and various members of the organization VOTE, and continued to attend criminal justice reform events and meetings. When I heard LPEC was looking for interns, I had contacts, experience and passion for the cause and have been working with them ever since! Keeping in contact and consistently showing up for the community you’re interested in working with will always go a long way.
After being away from New Orleans for the last semester, I was surprised and excited during my first week to hear of the new programming and organizational developments OR and LPEC had experienced. The new working space is fantastic and I can feel the momentum, ambition, and enthusiasm from everyone involved. In addition to learning a great deal about non-profit growth and development, I expect to learn so much from the personal stories of women and families who have been affected by mass incarceration and the criminal justice system.