One great way to work against the awful ways that the criminal punishment system targets people of color, trans and queer people, poor people, women and people with disabilities is to support people who are currently in prison. Becoming a pen pal to a prisoner can give that person vital emotional support, help them be less vulnerable to violence because guards and others know they have connections on the outside, and help them build networks and resources for when they are released. SRLP has been connecting prisoners who write to us with volunteer pen pals for exactly these reasons.

To become an ongoing Pen Pal volunteer click here!

Pen Pal Projects Information Sharing Sessions

Join other folks around the country and internationally who are organizing pen pal projects and letter writting events to support trans and queer prisoners.  Share information regarding resources and troubleshoot any problems that you have run up against with fellow pen pal organizers.  Make your pen pal project stronger and more sustainable by sharing with others.  Conference calls are every 4 months. 

For more info, contact stefanie@srlp.org.

Prisoner Letter-Writing Gatherings

Some people have chosen to create prisoner letter-writing gatherings at their homes so that people can get together and do this work as a group. This can be good for a number of reasons:

• It helps people remember to write to their pen pal(s). If the gathering is once a month, for example, it will be a good reminder to write a letter. Being consistent is important.
• It is a good way for people who have never had a prisoner pen pal to get started. They can ask questions of people who have done it before. They can get the names of prisoners seeking pen pals from the host.
• It is a good way to share resources and build networks of support for people inside and people coming out. People can talk about resources they are sharing with their pen pal and pass them along to others.
• It is a good space to emotionally support each other in doing a type of support that can be difficult because of the violence of the prison system and the pain of knowing that people we care about are locked up.

To start a prison pen pal gathering with your friends, you’ll need just a few things: stationary and stamps (or you can ask people to bring them and contribute to a group collection that you’ll keep using at future gatherings); a group of people you’d like to invite; a list of people seeking pen pals. You can get a list of people seeking pen pals from SRLP and/or from http://www.blackandpink.org. Often, it’s nice to write to someone who lives in the same state as you so that you might visit them eventually and/or so that if you become involved in state politics about imprisonment in your state it can be connected to your relationship with your pen pal. However, writing to a prisoner anywhere is a good idea.

Some Things to Consider When Planning These Events:

Some people may come to the event who are not ready to commit to being a pen pal long term. They can still write cards or letters of support on a one-time basis to a prisoner on the list. If they do this, you all need to decide what should be the return address, because the prisoner may write back. If you plan to keep having the gatherings, someone could agree to use their address as the return address and then bring any new letters to the next gathering so that someone can respond. It is often nice to have food at these events, maybe potluck style or some other way, to warm the gathering. Some people have not had a chance to learn much about prisons or about why we want to abolish them. It might be nice to keep some info on hand at the gathering that people can look at. Some good resources are listed in the inset box.

Some people who come to the event might ask some very common questions that come up when people do prisoner support who have not had a lot of chance to learn about imprisonment in the US such as “How do I know what they are in prison for?” It is good to think about this before the event so that you are prepared to talk about why prisoner support is important regardless of the charges against someone, and why the assumption that prisoners are dangerous is incorrect, and share some discussion with the group about what role prisons have in the US. The resources listed above are great for thinking about this. It can be good to talk with the group about other things that can be sent to prisoners. Many people send money or books to long-term pen pals. There are strict rules in each prison system about how and what can be sent so these rules should be found out from the pen pal before sending anything other than paper. Sending money and books to prisoners is a great thing to do if people want to, and being a pen pal who cannot do so is still a great support. Both should be encouraged. Lastly, people attending these events often want to know what to write when writing to a penpal for the first time since they know very little about them. Common recommendations are:

• Describe the event you are at and that you are with a group of people who want to send support and let you know we are thinking of you.
• Mention anything about your surroundings, the seasons, where you live, nature or other general info that people often have shared relationships to.
• Let them know if you’re offering to become a pen pal if they are interested in being pen pals with you!

In addition, if you cannot organize a pen pal gathering but would like to join the pen pal program as an individual you can do so my filling out the volunteer application form. Once you have filled it out, we will send you the pen pal program guidelines which include an overview of the program, boundaries, time commitments and helpful related links. If you are committed to continue as a pen pal, you would then notify us via email/phone and we will be happy to connect you with a pen pal. If you have any other questions or comments, please feel free to contact us at info@srlp.org. (Thanks to Jason Lydon for developing resources for this work!)