Chicago Books to Women in Prison

Amy K. feels the same way we do.

Last year we mailed 3,086 packages of books—9,200 or so books in all—and 361 blank journals. That’s 19% more than in 2014! We reached nearly 2,500 individual women in 53 prisons, including the largest women’s prison in the country and several men’s prisons where transwomen are incarcerated.

We’re impressed ourselves. But we want to share the credit.

As always, our 100% volunteer team works constantly to seek new resources and improve our processes so we can do more.

This year, for example, we received a Crossroads Fund Seed Fund grant. We implemented a database to track mailings, collect data and better manage our backlog. And we took an important step in obtaining our 501(c)(3) IRS determination as a public charity.

But we couldn’t have done any of this without friends who helped in many ways, including:

• Donating money for postage and rent (postage is about 82% of our total budget and rising as we aim to serve even more women)
• Mailing or dropping off books and blank journals
• Purchasing special requests from our Amazon Wish List
• Attending one of our three community events
  

  Crystal Laura, author of Being Bad: My Baby Brother and the School-to-Prison Pipeline, at Women & Children First in March; Colette Payne of CLAIM (Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers) at After-Words Books in September.

And we’re grateful for our community, including everyone who follows us on:

• Facebook (50% more followers than last year)
• Twitter (65% more followers)
• Our blog (subscribe at the top right) and website (88% more visitors)

Please keep up with us in 2016 as we provide more women with the self-empowerment, education and entertainment that reading provides. People in prison  have little or no access to books. So as long as there is the need, we’re committed to providing the pleasure and power of books.

Jess in Ohio made us smile with her recent order. And you can brighten the lives of the women who receive the thousands of books and blank journals we send each year. Join us for our next new volunteer orientation—led by one of our experienced volunteers—Sunday, October 25, 1–2 p.m., right before our regular 2–5 p.m. work session. Get the details here.

This Sunday already booked? Plan now to join us for the Sunday, November 29 orientation. Or learn how you can get involved in other ways. You know where to find us!

Kylie in Indiana heard about us from a friend and sent us this wonderful note along with her first order for books:

Come help make a difference with us—one package of books at a time. Join us for our next new volunteer orientation, led by one of our experienced volunteers, Sunday, September 27, 1–2 p.m., right before our regular 2–5 p.m. work session. Get the details here.

Can’t make it this Sunday? Plan now to join us for the Sunday, October 25 orientation. Or learn how you can get involved in other ways. See you soon!

Exciting things are happening at Chicago Books to Women in Prison and we’d love for you to be a part of it all.

Join us for our next orientation session, led by one of our experienced volunteers—Sunday, May 3, 1–2 p.m., right before our regular 2–5 p.m. work session. Get the details here. (Note that this is a week later than our usual last-Sunday-of-the-month schedule.)

Learn how you can make a personal, powerful difference in the lives of Rebecca H. and other incarcerated women.

It may be cold outside, but you’ll find a warm atmosphere as a volunteer with Chicago Books to Women in Prison. It’s such a simple thing we do—selecting and sending books in response to requests we receive in the mail—and very rewarding.

Continue reading ‘New Volunteers: Orientation this Sunday, February 22’

According to the latest weather bulletin, we could be getting 18 inches of snow by tonight, so we’ll take a rare day off for safety’s sake.

We’ll be open next week as usual for volunteers and donation drop-offs.