Heart-to-Heart Newsletter, April 2020
Dear Friends,
Incarcerated men and women throughout the US are crying out for life-saving measures to be taken on their behalf. Many of us who know and care about them are adding our voices to these pleas.
Men Incarcerated in Cook County Jail in Chicago Communicate a message. Photo/Brian Cassella of Chicago Tribune via TNS
There are calls for a sweeping, swift and responsible release of prisoners. While some have been released around the country, correctional leaders and advocates say the number released is far too few to forestall massive, avoidable infections and deaths. You can read a warden’s perspective from former New Jersey DOC warden and Heart-to-Heart ally Chuck Albino Wardens must act to release offenders during COVID-19 … and my op ed in case you missed it Steve Tumolo: Release prisoners to help save lives
You can hear from current and recently released prisoners in Riker’s Island here: Prisoners Plea for Release, Protection Amid Skyrocketing Infections… a here is a comprehensive piece from Arnold Ventures Coronavirus in Prisons and Jails: ‘It Is a Powder Keg Waiting to Blow’ During this time, Heart-to-Heart has been shifting some of its programs to remote meetings. This is not possible, as of yet, in correctional facilities. We’ve turned more to alliance building and the sort of advocacy that you can see in the op ed pieces above.
We are also offering online workshops and empathy circles. Empathy cultivates mutual mattering. Whether we are in a nursing home, a correctional facility, or home alone and missing loved ones, we all need to know we matter.
May we take in the preciousness of our own lives and affirm the value of each other in prayer, word, and action.
Gratefully Yours,
Steve Tumolo
