San Francisco, CA. Based on the historical Haight Street of San Francisco with another volunteer center in Berkeley, Prisoners Literature Project has delivered packages of literary material to prisoners for over 30 years. Unfortunately, the outbreak of COVID-19 has hindered both the organization to provide books to inmates as well as the prisoner’s ability to participate. While still sending out hundreds of packages per month, that amount is nowhere near the previous volume Prisoners Literature Project (PLP) was able to distribute.
PLP relies solely on volunteers to package and mail specific books, however social distancing guidelines in response to the pandemic have prohibited the organization to continue their normal volunteer operations. Simon Carless, a volunteer and social media advocate for PLP, emphasizes the organization’s total reliance on volunteers and donations; “Nobody is being paid by the organization, so for us, it’s important that all the money we receive goes directly to helping prisoners.”
Volunteers such as those pictured are no longer able to gather and pack or distribute literature in The Grassroots House due to COVID. PLP hopes to return to their normal volunteer-based practice soon.
Partnerships with other nonprofit organizations further allow PLP to provide prisoners with a diverse collection of literature. Grassroots House is the parent organization to PLP, and Carless describes the nonprofit as a “collectively run physical space”. Grassroots activism allows increased diversity among both literature donations and volunteer demographics; “We do have a whole bunch of backgrounds, jobs, and ages, yes. I think everyone has a different view on why they are doing this and how they can help – so as a collective we try to self-organize so that everyone is doing what they want to do to make things better.”
PLP is also partnered with the Prisoner Activist Resource Center and includes the organization’s brochures within their literature packages to provide prisoners with information regarding resources and fundamental business knowledge. In addition to the education and resources prisoners receive through the PLP, Carless is proud of the more spiritual and therapeutic ameliorates their organization provides as well. “Many prisoners request dictionaries and thesauruses, so for them, their literacy is important….But in general, when they are in such isolation or have such poor access to reading materials, a great result is an improved state of mind and the feeling that somebody is looking out for them. We hope!”
Carless highlights the organization’s appreciation for the letters of thanks PLP receives from prisoners due to their work.
While COVID has hindered their operation, Prisoners Literature Project continues to accept donations and hopes that both their dedicated volunteers as well as the prisoners who have had their resources restricted due to the pandemic can once again engage in the efforts of the organization. Carless acknowledges the immense impact of COVID on PLP; “Many prisons are in lockdown or partial lockdown and have been very badly affected by COVID, which is very sad. And PLP itself has had to stop doing group volunteer sessions, which has majorly affected our ability to send out packages. (We are still sending out hundreds per month, just not as many as we did.) We hope to get back to normal soon, but it’s difficult for everyone concerned.”
https://www.prisonlit.org/
From Prisoners Literature Project
The Prisoners Literature Project is an all-volunteer, non-profit group that sends free books directly to prisoners who request them from throughout the United States.Working almost continuously for thirty years, our U.S. prison books program has gotten (literally) tons of books into the American prison system, while staying overwhelmingly ‘grassroots’ – no full-time employees, no overhead eating up your donations.
Partnerships
Prisoner Activist Resource Center – https://www.prisonactivist.org/
The Grassroots House – https://grassrootshouse.org/
Berkeley, CA. Berkeley Food Network, a middleman between large food sources – such as food banks or markets –and community distributors, has more than tripled its community impact in just two months. According to the nonprofit’s Executive Director Sara Webber, “With COVID we went in two months… from serving 1,600 people a week to 5,000 people a week.”
When it was founded in 2016 by Sara Webber, Dona Boatright, Chuck Fanning, and Kate Campbell King, the Berkeley Food Network worked it’s way up to serving around 300 food-insecure people. In two years, thanks to partnerships with community organizations like Head Start, senior and medical centers, as well as the Alameda County Food Bank, that number grew to 1,600. But the Coronavirus outbreak and California’s shelter-in-place order “completely changed our operations,” Webber notes. “We’re saying it’s our silver lining.” And indeed, the pandemic has given people who may be reluctant to ask for free food the push they need to accept help.
Berkeley Food Network employees pose for a photo pre-COVID-19.
An essential part of the Berkeley Food Network’s model is destigmatizing food handouts. At the nonprofit’s farmer market-style pantries, staff shop alongside food insecure people, taking just a few items. The goal of this is to normalize free food, and the strategy works; customers feel more comfortable and participate more. Since the shelter-in-place order, the Food Network has shifted from running pop-up pantries at convenient times and locations for families to delivering pre-packed grocery bags to community partners. One such partner is Headstart, a preschool for low-income children that is run by the YMCA. Once a month the Berkeley Food Network sets up a food pantry at Headstart from three to five in the afternoon, so parents can easily access free food while they are picking their kids up. Although Headstart was forced to suspend its program due to COVID, BFN has found numerous new community partners.
A mother and daughter pick food from a BFN pop-up pantry prior to the onset of the pandemic.
Despite the many organizations devoted to feeding the hungry in and around Berkeley, “There are a lot of people falling through the holes,” according to Webber. That is where BFN comes in. They work with partner organizations in the community to get food where it is most needed. Research by the Food Network shows that 24,000 Berkeley residents were food insecure pre-COVID-19. However, only 6,000 of them had access to regular food assistance. It is the Berkeley Food Network’s mission to close that gap by developing strong and collaborative community partnerships to reach each of those 24,000 people with healthy food.
Masked BFN workers sort food to be distributed to families.
Healthy food is a hallmark of Berkeley Food Network. They never distribute sugary drinks or foods – most of their produce is sourced from hyper-organic community gardens like King Middle School’s Edible Schoolyard and Urban Adamah. In addition, BFN receives donations from personal organic gardens. To fill in the cracks, BFN’s food recovery program sources food from local businesses that would normally throw away imperfect, but perfectly healthy, produce. Packages typically contain food for an entire family to eat three meals.
BFN warehouse workers pose for a masked photo.
If you are interested in getting involved with Berkeley Food Network:
From Berkeley Food Network: Did you know that 1 in 5 Berkeley residents are not able to put enough food on their tables to live healthy, hunger-free lives? The Berkeley Food Network was founded in December 2016 with the goal of ending hunger in Berkeley. We have an innovative mix of community-centered and collaborative programs to get healthy, nutritious food to the people in Berkeley who need it. At the heart of this work is our food sourcing and distribution hub operating out of our warehouse. We source food from the Alameda County Community Food Bank and local food businesses that is later distributed to Berkeley residents. The graphic below outlines specifically how our community-centered approach operates to end hunger in Berkeley.
Oakland, CA. As the world adjusts to the pandemic, Wardrobe For Opportunity has had to close its office and create virtual programs to continue its mission to assist low-income individuals, people of color, and immigrants with not only job placement, but skills in long term career development. The organization provides several empowering programs to aid clients in professional visual appearance, job placement, long-term career development, and education in financial literacy. The impact of COVID has expanded Wardrobe for Opportunity’s clients, as many have lost employment and are in need of career services.
Founded in 1995, Wardrobe for Opportunity (WFO) began as a service for low-income women to receive professional attire but has since greatly expanded its programs to include all gender identities. Executive Director Hannah Quan identifies a program called Navigate as one of the organization’s most successful programs. “Last year we saw twice as many people graduate from the program as we expected, and this year we are on track to double that number again. The program is intended for people who are unemployed and looking for work, and we are now hearing from people who never expected to find themselves in this situation due to COVID-19.” The program offers training not only for those newly entering the job search but the program now services an entirely new demographic. Navigate also partners with organizations such as Beyond the Gates and Center for Employment Opportunities which work with both adults and youth reentering the population from incarceration. Quan says for some of these men and women, the Professional Attire Service is the first step and is one of the most personally rewarding to see. “The styling appointment is often the first time they see themselves as capable and deserving of a professional career.”
Racial and social injustice is also a focus of WFO and the nonprofit advocates for those causes. Though not a public advocacy organization, Quan explains how WFO works to fight injustice and inequality in the workplace in other ways; “When it comes to equal pay for equal work, we know that black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) by and large earn less than their white counterparts, and our client base is reflective of that inequality. Our programming covers ways that clients can advocate for themselves in the workplace, whether it be for higher pay, a better job title, increased benefits, or better overall treatment.”
Graduates from Wardrobe For Opportunity’s Catapult Program, focusing on long-term career planning and economic self-sufficiency.
The pandemic has left many without employment and Wardrobe for Opportunity has tirelessly worked on online strategies to continue to provide support and education for clients. Staffers serve the Bay Area community with not only professional attire to be visually prepared for the job search, but they go beyond job placement to build careers, self-confidence, and stability. As it celebrates its 25 years in service, Wardrobe For Opportunity will not allow COVID to stand in the way of its mission.
From Wardrobe For Opportunity:
We acknowledge the shifting demographics and increasing cost of living in the Bay Area and provide workable strategies to the low-income residents that remain. WFO’s strategic plan addresses the needs of low-income clients to succeed in building a life that is sustainable for their future. I hope you will join and support us as we transform lives throughout the Bay Area.
San Francisco, CA. Sunset Youth Services‘ central philosophy is that cultivating healthy attachments with stable and caring adults is the best way to support youth and young adults on the precipice of the criminal justice system. SYS works with young people aged 14 to 24 – as well as their families – in a multitude of different capacities: providing digital arts resources, workforce development, justice and mental health services, and family support. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has forced SYS to close its Youth Center and adapt many services to an online format, staffers continue to center their efforts on relationship-based support for the community.
Youth perform at Sunset Festival prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the early weeks of California’s shelter-in-place order, SYS began weekly ‘Love Parades.’ Employees made signs bearing encouraging messages, piled into their cars, and drove by the houses of families they serve, honking and shouting, “We love you!” and “We’re in this together!” SYS’s commitment to the mental wellbeing of the families served is palpable in the video below of a ‘Love Parade.’
In addition to these weekly shows of support, Sunset Youth Services, in partnership with the San Francisco Marin Food Bank, Dine11, and World Central Kitchen, delivered over 2,000 meals a week to program families during the beginning stages of shelter-in-place. According to Development and Communications Associate Melissa Laureta, SYS “continues to distribute food boxes,” although staffers and volunteers have reduced the number of meals they deliver. This initiative is made possible because of food donations from Trader Joes and the SF-Marin Food Bank.
SYS employees prepare to deliver meals to families in need.
Sunset Youth Services’ Digital Arts program is a cornerstone of the nonprofit’s efforts to cultivate community with SF youth both inside and outside prison. Young people come to SYS’ Youth Center to produce music and videos, write songs, and learn similar marketable skills from industry professionals. SYS began bringing its Digital Arts program into juvenile hall and jails so that in the process of creating music, incarcerated youth form relationships with Sunset Youth employees. Once out of jail, those connections facilitate their reentry into society by connecting them to the wealth of services that SYS provides, such as a highly successful Workforce Development program. Almost 90% of the youth who graduate from this program land a job. At the junction between Digital Arts and Workforce Development is Upstar Records: a youth-led record label that cultivates young hip-hop enthusiasts into digital technology professionals.
A singer performs with a group associated with Upstar Records during pre-COVID-19 times.
SYS’s programs are structured around the research-driven concept of attachment communities: groups that provide connectedness and foster healthy, trusting relationships between volunteers and youth. Many young people lack stable relationships in their lives, which is believed to be a root cause of issues like depression, anxiety, and mental illness. Even before research released by The Commission on Children at Risk in 2005 identified attachment communities as the definitive response to myriad behavioral and mental health issues in youth, SYS had already formed its own relationship-based community in San Francisco. Instead of compartmentalizing the services they offer, SYS ensures a teen can walk into the building and have access to any of five programs. At the Youth Center, youth and young adults can make music or beats, meet with mental health professionals, case managers, and receive support caring for a young child. Laureta explains, “Youth can come into our center and hit all five of our programs and still maintain community within our family.” This idea of ‘family’ is at the core of all Sunset Youth Services programs.
Sunset Youth Services at the Playland BBQ in 2019.
Anyone interested in volunteering with Sunset Youth Services should contact Melissa Laureta at [email protected] for more information. Keep in mind, however, that Sunset Youth Services’ dedication to forging enduring relationships between volunteers and youth make getting involved more complicated than some might think. Laureta says, “We are pretty tight gatekeepers of our youth community because there’s a lot of abandonment stuff and mental health stuff with our kids. When we have volunteers who parachute in and out, abandonment issues arise rally fast. So we need dedicated volunteers to stick with a kid or a cohort of kids for weeks and months and be committed and show relationships are stable because they don’t get that from other places in their lives.”
From Sunset Youth Services: The mission of Sunset Youth Services is to foster long-term stability and growth in in-risk* youth, young adults, and families through caring relationships and supportive services. This goal is based on the simple belief that youth are inherently worthy of dignity and respect and have the potential to positively contribute to their communities when their real needs are met.
Berkeley, CA. Anyone who has watched a loved one battle cancer knows the immense burden it forces upon the entire family. Kesem is a nationwide community dedicated to supporting children through and beyond their parent’s cancer, such as the campers in the photo above. Kesem means “magic” in Hebrew, although the camp is open to any child whose parent has been diagnosed with cancer, regardless of religious or ethnic background. Passionate college students at 132 Kesem chapters nationwide run a free week-long summer camp for kids in this unique position. This year, however, in accordance with Kesem’s national leadership, camp is taking place online for Camp Kesem Berkeley and Stanford.
Camp Kesem Berkeley campers embrace at camp last summer.
When the statewide Shelter-in-Place order went into effect in March, it became increasingly clear that camp could not go on as normal. Individual Kesem chapters and Kesem National had to pivot in order to re-imagine activities for ‘Kesem at Home,’ Kesem’s first ever online program. UC Berkeley Kesem Co-Director Tatum Sandzimier says, “We have … packaged over 150 Kesem at Home kits that include all the supplies necessary to participate in a week of camp.” These kits include t-shirts and friendship bracelet strings, among other interactive supplies, and were mailed to campers’ houses prior to camp. In addition, Kesem Berkeley has contacted each camper’s family to ensure that they have internet and computer access. For those without smart devices, they have provided parents with templates to assist in contacting local schools to borrow computers for their kids use in Kesem At Home.
Two Berkeley counselors pose with a camper during Lake Day 2019.
Stanford’s week ‘Kesem at Home,’ occurred earlier in the summer, and Berkeley’s two weeks began August 1st. Although some classic camp experiences are difficult to replicate online, leadership at Kesem Berkeley and Stanford have invested immense energy into planning fun and interactive activities. Instead of kayaking at Lake Day, throwing paint and colored powder during Messy Olympics, or singing camp songs at Campfire Night, ‘Kesem at Home’ includes activities ranging from “high intensity dance parties … to more emotional sharing sessions,” according to Stanford University student and Co-Director of Camp Kesem Stanford, Sydney Brown.
Like all Kesem counselors nationwide, Brown uses a camp nickname. In her case: Peanut Butter. Berkeley Co-Director Sandzimier says she is involved with Kesem for “The chance to be ‘Big Three’ – the best version of myself.” For many counselors, their camp name is more than a silly word, favorite food, or cartoon character – it is an alter ego, a reminder that their most selfless and joyful self is their camp-self.
Camp Kesem Berkeley nurses and mental health professionals pose on the recreation field at camp during Summer 2019.
Kesem is more than just a one week-long camp; it is a year-round community. ‘Kesem By Your Side’ is a program started by Kesem student leaders at Cal to stay in touch with their campers during the school year. They do this through letters, as well as phone and video calls. Stanford Kesem implemented a similar ‘Pen-pal’ program this year, which Brown says has been “hugely popular.”
Camp Kesem Berkeley’s largest annual fundraiser, Make the Magic, was supposed to happen March 14th but was canceled just days prior due to the pandemic. The Make the Magic gala normally helps CK Berkeley raise over half of its annual fundraising goal. Although that wasn’t possible this year, Berkeley was still able to support nearby Kesem chapters in fundraising for their ‘Kesem at Home’ programs – in addition to planning their own.
Berkeley counselors pose with a camper during ‘Pajama Breakfast.’ (Summer 2019)
According to Sandzimier, “Kesem has shown me the power of love, community, and vulnerability. It has given me my best friends, [and] biggest role models.” Ask any college student who has been to Kesem and you will likely hear a similar story of praise. Brown remarked, “Kesem balances love with light in a delicate way – it’s truly unlike any other community in the world.” That duality is exactly what makes Kesem so special. Kids are allowed to be kids and forge deep and lasting relationships with each other simply through the common hardships they have endured. Kesem isn’t a normal summer camp, and it certainly isn’t a counseling group; it is a community where love and understanding grow organically and abundantly. The name ‘Kesem’ seems apt considering the magical impact it has on both kids and counselors’ lives.
Campers line up by unit at Stanford Kesem during camp last summer.
If you are a college student interested in joining Kesem, click here.
Disclosure: The author of this story, Satchi Metaxas, has been a camper at Camp Kesem Berkeley for the past decade.
From Camp Kesem: Kesem is a nationwide community, driven by passionate college student leaders, that supports children through and beyond their parent’s cancer. Kesem is the largest national organization dedicated to supporting children impacted by a parent’s cancer, at no cost to families. Our innovative and fun-filled programs provide children with peers who understand their unique needs, and create long-lasting impact.
Here’s a video about the program:
99% of parents feel their child benefited from attending Kesem.
98% of parents would recommend Kesem to other families impacted by cancer.
96% of parents intend to send their child back to Kesem each year.
86% agree their child seems more confident in their ability to address their cancer experience after Kesem.
San Quentin, CA. Prison populations across the U.S. have been hit hard by COVID-19. At San Quentin State Prison, the Prison University Project is trying to provide material and emotional support. The Prison University Project is a nonprofit working to expand access to higher education inside the California prison system. Due to COVID-19, all programming that is considered non-essential has been suspended, this includes the college classes offered by Prison University Project. However, the organization is taking on other projects to support the San Quentin prison community.
In recent weeks, the Prison University Project has coordinated the installation of mobile showers for corrections staff to help mitigate the possible spread of COVID-19.
The Prison University Project also provides food trucks that allow staff to grab something to eat before or after their shifts.
Efforts to assist staff during the pandemic is just one of the initiatives the Prison University Project has taken on. The organization’s outreach notes, “Most notably, we coordinated the successful deliveries of care packages to the entire populations of San Quentin and Avenal State Prisons. […] San Quentin’s leadership has also allowed us to send magazines, textbooks, art supplies, hand-crank radios, and digital content (via closed-circuit television) to people on death row and other areas of the prison outside of the general population areas.”
Prison University Project unloads care packages. (Photo credit, Lt. Sam Robinson)
Prison University Project student and Senior Editor of the San Quentin News, Juan Moreno Haines (pictured above) has emerged as a voice of the incarcerated during the COVID-19 crisis.
Juan Moreno Haines’ published pieces with information about what’s happening inside San Quentin during the COVID-19 pandemic can be seen at this link: https://theappeal.org/authors/juan-moreno-haines/
From the Prison University Project:
Here’s how to help incarcerated individuals at the moment. Increasing visibility of both formerly and currently incarcerated individuals by sharing and supporting their “advocacy efforts and publications widely” is one way in which people on the outside can help. Donations to the Prison University Project’s general operations and to its Covid-19 Care Package Initiative, both of which are linked here, are also useful. Additionally, donations to organizations such as Bonafide are appreciated. Bonafide helps individuals inside prepare for release and supports them when they leave the prison by providing essential supplies including cell phones and clothing.
The mission of the Prison University Project is to provide an intellectually rigorous, inclusive Associate of Arts degree program and College Preparatory Program, free of charge, to people at San Quentin State Prison; to expand access to quality higher education for incarcerated people; and to foster the values of equity, civic engagement, independence of thought, and freedom of expression.
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