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Prison Related Resources

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Radio

Listen to interviews from The Fancy Broccoli Show.

The Fancy Broccoli Show is preceded on Sunday afternoons by Diggin' in the Crates with Bill Skillz, and followed by Radio Showtime with Bill Eberle which is followed by Dutchess County legislator Joel Tyner's show.

On the Count with host Eddie Ellis on WBAI 99.5 FM New York NY on Saturdays from 10:30am - 12:00 noon.

Voices from the Prison Action Network at radio4all.net

Talk shows from 5:00 to 6:00 pm on WVKR:

• Mon: Planet Blue
• Tue: Spiritually Speaking
• Wed: Be the Change
• Thu: Activist Radio
• Fri: The Real Majority Project

Community

On the second and fourth Monday of every month there is a Prison Families of New York support group for the family members of people in prison, people formerly incarcerated and anyone who is connected to prison. The meeting is held at 253 Mansion St, Poughkeepsie NY, at 7:00PM. Anyone connected with the prison system who wants a safe environment to share their experience is welcome to attend. More information at (845) 242-3813.

Trees Without Roots is a support system for people who have conviction records. For more information call:

Larry Fauntleroy CASAC or Sa’id Abdullah CASAC
Tel: (845) 486-2444
Fax: (845) 877-9048

We interviewed Emilio Noble of Trees without Roots on 18 Jun 2006.

Organizations

The Coalition for Parole Restoration (C.P.R.) is a broad-based grass roots organization created to inform, organize and bring to light all aspects of the prison industrial complex as it affects our communities, families and people in prison. They have support groups and organizational meetings. You can get more information by writing

CPR
P.O. Box 1379
New York NY 10013
phone: (888) 590-9212 (toll-free)
fax: (631) 952-3410
email: parolecpr@yahoo.com

The Osborne Association offers opportunities for reform and rehabilitation through public education, advocacy, and alternatives to incarceration that respect the dignity of people and honor their capacity to change as they achieve self-sufficiency, adopt healthy lifestyles, enter the workforce, form and rebuild families, and rejoin their communities.

CURE-NY (Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants - New York chapter) is dedicated to reducing crime by reforming the individual as well as the criminal justice system. Fancy Broccoli co-hosts Amy & George are co-presidents of CURE-NY.

Prisoners are People Too! is a monthly documentary film and speakers series which serves to educate the public about prison-related issues. It is held at

Pratt Willert Community Center
422 Pratt St
Buffalo NY

Meetings are held on the 4th or 5th Monday from 6:30-8:30pm and include the showing of a relevant film, discussion and refreshments. Write to

Prisoners are People Too!
PO Box 273
Buffalo NY 14212

Karima Amin, founder and director of Prisoners are People Too!, was interviewed on the Fancy Broccoli Show on 7 Jan 2007.

The Crime Victims Assistance Program offers counseling, advocacy, groups, 24-hour hotlines and crisis counseling for crime victims. Also provides sexual assault forensic exams to victims of sexual assault and rape.

Family Services, Inc.
29 North Hamilton Street
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
Hotline: (845) 452-7272
Information: 845-452-1110 ext. 3400

Whitney Bonura, associate director of the Crime Victims Assistance Program was interviewed on the Fancy Broccoli show on 1 April 2007.

Prison Families of New York

Specialists in the effects of NYS incarceration on prisoners' children and families and how to best encourage their success, Family Strengthening through Information, Support and Community-Building, Prison Family and Re-entry Resource Development for Schools, Communities, Churches, Government (NY State and Federal).

Support Groups for Families and Friends of Prisoners:

• Albany
• Brooklyn
• Buffalo
• Long Island
• Poughkeepsie
• Rochester
• Schenectady
• Utica

Since its opening in 1997 in a long vacant high school building, the Family Partnership Center has grown to shelter more than 20 different health and human services agencies under one roof.

Family Partnership Center
29 North Hamilton
Poughkeepsie NY 12601
(845) 452-6088

The NuLeadership Policy Group (NuLPG), a recently formed activist public policy think tank and community organizer is now headquartered at Medgar Evers College in the City University of New York. NuLPG was founded and is directed by people who were formerly or are currently incarcerated. They conduct research and analysis, make recommendations for criminal justice policy reform and provide community education from the unique perspective of people who themselves have served time in prison.

Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions
1637 Bedford Avenue
Room 220/32
Brooklyn, New York 11225
Tel: (718) 270-5136 ~ Fax: (718) 270-6190
E-mail: eellis@mec.cuny.edu

NuLPG Executive Director Dr. Divine Pryor and Chair of the Board Eddie Ellis were interviewed on the Fancy Broccoli Show on 5 Feb 2006.

You can write to Citizens for Restorative Justice at:

Citizens for Restorative Justice
PO Box 1314
Wappingers Falls, NY 12590

Members of CRJ were interviewed on the Fancy Broccoli Show on 12 Mar 2006.

Families Rally for Emancipation & Empowerment (F.R.E.E.)

81 Willoughby Street #701
Brooklyn, NY 11201
718-852-0012
pfcf@verizon.net
founderpfcf@yahoo.com

New York chapter of the Alternatives to Violence Project:

Etta Roebig
Alternatives to Violence Project of New York
60 Leber Rd.
Blauvelt NY 10913
845-398-2261 (phone and fax)
avpnyso@aol.com

Alternatives to Violence Project - USA:

Online newsletter: The Transformer

Web site: http://avpusa.org/

Rob Martin of AVP was interviewed on the Fancy Broccoli Show on 19 Mar 2006.

The Women's Prison Association:

WPA is the nation's oldest service and advocacy organization committed to helping women with criminal justice histories see new possibilities for themselves and their families.

Women's Prison Association
110 Second Avenue
New York, NY 10003
212-674-1163 (phone)
212-677-1981 (fax)

Sarah From of the WPA was interviewed on the Fancy Broccoli Show on 2 Apr 2006.

Danielle Coscia and Sandra Thomas of the WPA were interviewed on the Fancy Broccoli Show on 23 Jul 2006.

Nicole Hamilton, a formerly incarcerated woman, has created an organization to help people with the transition out of prison. Write to:

We Work For You
PO Box 370430
Brooklyn NY 11237

Nicole Hamilton was interviewed on the Fancy Broccoi Show on 12 Nov 2006.

Rights for Imprisoned People with Psychiatric Disabilities (RIPPD) is a grassroots, direct action organization, united to demand justice and social change, for imprisoned people with psychiatric disabilities.

Rights for Imprisoned People with Psychiatric Disabilities
666 Broadway, 10th floor
New York NY 10012
phone: 646-602-5664
fax: 212-533-4598
email: Lisa Ortega lortega@urbanjustice.org

Carlos Sabater of RIPPD was interviewed on the Fancy Broccoli Show on 29 Oct 2006.

The mission of the Interfaith Coalition of Advocates for Reentry and Employment (ICARE) is to eliminate barriers to reentry by leading a “Restoration of Rights” campaign in the Restorative Justice tradition.

For more information:

ICARE
3041 Broadway
mailbox 37
New York NY 10002
212-280-1380
info@nyicare.org

Rima Vesely-Flad, director of ICARE, was interviewed on the Fancy Broccoli Show on 16 Apr 2006.

T.H.E. Program: Father Peter G. Young recognized that recovery from addiction often requires support in Treatment, Housing and Employment (T.H.E.). T.H.E. Program assists more than 250 people behind bars a year to learn how to return to society, under the auspices of the NYS Department of Correctional Services. For more information:

T.H.E. Program - Peter G. Young
575 Broadway
Menands NY 12204
(518) 463-1121, ext. 201

NY Senator Tom Duane's office is collecting reports of medical mistreatment in the NYS prisons. If you wish to report medical mistreatment, such as not receiving mandated prostate checkups or not receiving necessary medication or medical attention, you can send a description of the situation to

Senator Duane
attn: Mark Furnish, Esq.
Room 415, LOB
Albany NY 12247

PEN (Poets, Essayist, Novelists) has a Prison Writing Program. They publish several handbooks: "Handbook for Prisoners" gives guidelines for grammar and basic writing skills. "Words over Walls" explains how to start a writing workshop in a prison. You can get more information by writing

PEN Prison Writing Committee
568 Broadway
New York NY 10012
http://www.pen.org/

The National Buddhist Prison Sangha is a nationwide network of Buddhist volunteers who make themselves available to interested inmates in their area. Depending on their experience with practice, as well as their time and personal resources, these volunteers may provide support through correspondence, visits, the creation and leading of practice groups, and more.

Families Against Mandatory Minimums Foundation (FAMM Foundation) is a national organization of citizens working to reform federal and state mandatory sentencing laws that remove judicial discretion.

The Prison Legal News is a monthly newsletter edited by Washington State incarcerated person Paul Wright. The PLN has been regularly published since May of 1990. PLN covers prison-related news and analysis from across the country and around the world. It's focus is on prison struggle in all arenas.

Staffed primarily by ex-offenders, The Fortune Society is committed to helping people behind bars, ex-offenders, and those facing incarceration.

Exodus Transitional Community helps people recently released from prison to make the transition back to life on the outside.

Exodus Transitional Community
Church of The Living Hope
161 East 104th St.
New York, NY 10029
(917) 492-0990

Corporate Watch provides news, analysis, research tools and action resources to respond to corporate activity around the globe. They have a section with articles on prison reform.

The New York State Department of Correctional Services has a list of prisons, and a map.

Books

	Voices Under the Harvest Moon: An Anthology of Writing from Eastern Correction Facility, edited by Janine Pommy Vega "Introduction: When the writing workshop began at Eastern Correctional Facility of New York (also known as Napanoch) three years ago, none of us had any idea it would assume a life of its own."  Available from Small Press Distribution, Berkeley CA.
	Doing Time: 25 Years of Prison Writing edited by Bell Gale Chevigny "Doing Time: For the prison writers whose work is included in this anthology, it means more than 'serving a sentence'; it means staying alive and sane, preserving dignity, reinventing oneself, and somehow retaining one's humanity."
	Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing by Ted Conover recounts the author's experience training to be and working as a guard in New York's Sing Sing prison. (Here's what the Department of Correctional Services thinks about the book). "Newjack is my new book about prison; the word is slang for 'rookie guard.' I spent almost a year as a guard to experience what prison is really like, how it changes everybody, from staff to inmates. The idea came to me after the New York Dept. of Correctional Services refused to let me visit their training academy (I had wanted to profile a recruit as he passed through). Tantalized by some visits to prisons and concluding that I was unlikely to ever really understand prison from outside the walls, I took the guard exam myself. Two years later I entered Sing Sing as a newjack."
	The Prisoner's Wife: A Memoir by asha bandele "As a favor for a friend, a bright and talented young woman volunteered to read her poetry to a group of prisoners during a Black History Month program. It was an encounter that would alter her life forever, because it was there, in the prison, that she would meet Rashid, the man who was to become her friend, her confidant, her husband, her lover, her soul mate. At the time, Rashid was serving a sentence of twenty years to life for his part in a murder. The Prisoner's Wife is a testimony, for wives and mothers, friends and families. It's a tribute to anyone who has ever chosen, against the odds, to love."
	Condemned: Inside the Sing Sing Death House by Scott Christianson "In the 70 odd years before 1963, when the death sentence was declared unconstitutional in New York, Sing Sing was the site of almost one-half of the 1,353 executions carried out in the state. More people were executed at Sing Sing than at any other American prison, yet Sing Sing's death house was, to a remarkable extent, one of the most closed, secret and mythologized places in modern America. In this remarkable book, based on recently revealed archival materials, Scott Christianson takes us on a disturbing and poignant tour of Sing Sing's legendary death house, and introduces us to those whose lives Sing Sing claimed."