This Christmas, Children Receive Bedtime Stories from Dads in Prison

InnerChange Freedom Initiative Texas Inmates also Refurbish Bikes for Needy Kids in Houston Dec. 21 Media Opportunity: IFI Inmates Give Bikes to 12 Underprivileged Kids at In-Prison Event

HOUSTON, Dec. 12, 2007—Children of some Texas inmates will receive a special gift from their incarcerated dads this Christmas. A new project at the InnerChange Freedom Initiative^® (IFI) Texas' Carol S. Vance unit allows incarcerated dads to record themselves reading children's stories. The recorded audio tapes are then given to their children as Christmas gifts to be played and re-played on lonely nights throughout the year.
 
Noticing that many prisoners struggle to maintain a relationship with their children, an IFI Texas volunteer recently came up with this very personal way to fill the void that children experience as a result of having a parent behind bars. The project, dubbed "Storybook Dads," aims to build or maintain family ties and facilitate learning for prisoners and their children through these story CDs.
 
 "An estimated 2.3 million children¹ in the United States are not able to have daily contact with a parent because they are behind bars," said IFI Texas Director Tommie Dorsett. "Considering the majority of incarcerated parents are more than 100 miles from their last place of residence,¹ the storybook CDs offer hope and love from an absent parent at Christmas and every day throughout the year."
 
 IFI's Storybook Dads project is administrated from inside the IFI unit by current inmate Willie McCray. McCray said the project is a tool to help incarcerated dads continue to be fathers while in prison. It also encourages their involvement in their children's lives year-round.
 
 "My daughter hasn't committed a crime. It's not her fault I'm here," said Andre Williams, who was sentenced to 13 years in 2000 for murder. "The Storybook Dads project gives me the opportunity to show my 8-year-old my love for her from behind bars."
 
 Forty Texas children will receive an audio storybook from their dad in prison this Christmas. IFI plans to expand the project, which began only two months ago, so next year many more children will receive the gift of their dad's voice for Christmas.
 
 In addition, IFI Texas inmates work throughout the year to refurbish bicycles to give to underprivileged children in the Houston area, many of whom receive only this one gift for Christmas. The bike project, which began in 2005, has provided 50 bikes to local children and will provide another 50 bikes this Christmas.
 
 "You don't know how good it felt to see the look on my three children's faces knowing that someone who didn't even know them gave them a gift," said Shemika Wiggins, a Houston-area mom whose three children received bikes last Christmas. "I had a heartfelt smile as they received the three bikes, gifts that I could never afford to give them."

MEDIA INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES: Witness 12 children receive refurbished bikes on Dec. 21 at 1 p.m. CT Interview: Inmates who have refurbished bikes to give away this Christmas Children who received refurbished bikes last Christmas Tommie Dorsett, IFI Texas Director Inmate Willie McCray, manager of the Storybook Dads project who learned to edit music and lay audio while in prison Inmates who gave their child a "storybook" and children who received a "storybook" this Christmas

For more than a decade, the InnerChange Freedom Initiative has produced proven results in changing the lives of hardened criminals and stopping the revolving door of crime. Nine IFI programs are in operation in state prisons in Texas, Iowa, Minnesota, Kansas, Arkansas and Missouri-including women's programs in Minnesota, Arkansas and Missouri-presenting viable solutions to challenges that state and local governments have struggled with for decades.


¹Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics

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