Voices from Inside (VFI) runs writing groups for currently or formerly incarcerated women. Through creative writing workshops and public readings, participants in the program are empowered to voice their feelings and opinions and share their stories with the world.
Mission
Through creative writing and public readings, Voices from Inside empowers women who have been incarcerated to make changes in their lives and to engage positively with the communities to which they return.
VFI enables incarcerated and formerly-incarcerated women to give voice to their experience by encouraging them to write stories from their diverse life experiences. VFI also aims to bring the women’s literary work into the community to erode prejudices and misconceptions, and to promote understanding of how ex-prisoners can become productive members of society.
Organizational Background
Voices from Inside run by an all-volunteer, working Board of Directors. VFI is a fiscal sponsor client of Third Sector New England, Inc.
Program Participants
The women we serve are representative of the population of incarcerated women in the United States today. As such, the majority are women of color, many of whom are Spanish-speaking and not fluent in English. In addition, the majority are single parents and have experienced previous trauma in their lives—such as childhood abuse and neglect—and have been accused or convicted of non-violent, drug-related crimes. In VFI workshops, these women prove themselves to be creative, articulate communicators of the human spirit.