PAROLE PREP COMMUNITY FUNDRAISER!

Support our volunteers and help bring people home from prison

A note from Samu

As many of you may know, I've been working with the Parole Preparation Project (https://www.paroleprepny.org/) for the past 2 years or so as a volunteer. My Parole Prep partner, Matt, and I spent a year and a half preparing our applicant, Bill, for two parole hearings. Earlier this year, Bill was released from prison after 35 years. Parole Prep's work has a real impact, their strategies are effective, and the people who work there are incredibly dedicated to this work. 

Please consider helping me contribute to the continuation of Parole Prep's work with a donation of any size. 

About the campaign

This May, Parole Prep has launched our first-ever peer-to-peer fundraising campaign to help fund our volunteer programming and parole preparation work. To help us reach our overall fundraising goal of $75,000, members of the Parole Prep community (like me!) are working as lead fundraisers to solicit donations from their own networks. My personal fundraising contribution goal is $2,000. Here’s more about what we’re fundraising for:

Since its founding in 2013, Parole Prep has trained over 900 volunteers to work alongside more than 400 people serving life sentences in New York State prisons. Most of those inside have spent more than 25 years behind bars and are in their 60s, 70s and even 80s. Many are in declining health and are eager to return to the families and communities that they left decades ago.

Over the course of their time with Parole Prep, volunteers will visit people in prison, talk with them by phone, communicate with family members and loved ones on the outside, and support people in navigating the parole process. Volunteers will also create advocacy packets that are submitted to the Board of Parole that demonstrate the work individuals have done while incarcerated and why they should be granted release. Volunteers also work with people to prepare for their parole interview, which is a daunting and difficult task.

Throughout the year, volunteers are traveling from New York City to prisons as far away as the Canadian border. They are spending their weekends driving long hours or traveling by plane, bus or train, sleeping in hotels and motels, and of course, spending time with people in prison. When incarcerated people are nearing their parole dates, volunteers print copious amounts of documents, assemble them into bound booklets, and submit them to the Parole Board for review. 

To ensure that Parole Prep's volunteer program is accessible to everyone, and that there is no financial burden on people in prison, Parole Prep covers all expenses related to travel, communication, printing, postage and more. With nearly 100 current and active cases, Parole Prep spends nearly $100,000 every year on volunteer activities alone. 

We hope you’ll join us in raising funds for these important operations. With your support, we can better advocate for the release of more people serving decades in prison in New York State.