-Daniel McInally,
Formerly incarcerated, Freedom Project Board President
The Washington State Department of Corrections and the Statewide Reentry Council estimate that 8,000 people are released from prison each year. Many leave prison traumatized, and most have experienced nothing in the form of restorative healing. Furthermore, they are released to cities, towns and neighborhoods that are ill-prepared to support successful reentry.
As a result, over 4,000 of these individuals will be re-incarcerated within five years of release.
Together, we need to do better.
Freedom Project’s vision is that together we shift from punishment to restoration, from oppression to equity, and from apathy to empathy.
Who We Serve
Freedom Project offers NVC and mindfulness classes at the Twin Rivers Unit, Monroe Correctional Complex in Monroe, WA.
Prior to the COVID pandemic, Freedom Project led programs in nine facilities across the state. In the future, Freedom Project intends to return to those facilities as part of a broader expansion.
How We Do It
Freedom Project interrupts the cycle of incarceration with programs that provide healing connection and restorative communities for participants both inside and outside prison. Our programs support incarcerated individuals and those recently released through the practice of Nonviolent Communication, mindfulness, racial equity and anti-oppression. These practices define who we are, how we work with the communities we serve, and how we train our volunteers.
Nonviolent Communication (NVC) has been used worldwide for over four decades to help people transform blame, anger and criticism into understanding, effective communication and peaceful resolution of conflict. NVC inspires teamwork, authentic expression, and empathic listening.
Mindfulness is an evidence-based practice that reverses the negative psychological effects of imprisonment and nurtures freedom, inner peace, and human kindness, in places where there is little.
Racial Equity and Anti-Oppression are the intentional practice of re-centering power, resources, and voice to those most impacted by systemic oppression and trauma. We move away from traditional teacher/student methods and embrace a co-learning model in which all have insights to share.
We also support incarcerated individuals to become workshop facilitators and mentors. In 2017, people who are currently incarcerated facilitated 463 hours of class time. Furthermore, we continually work with facilitators who are currently incarcerated and those recently released from prison to develop and revise our curriculum. This collaborative practice supports our values of accountability, equity, and authenticity.
Volunteers lead all of Freedom Project programs, both inside and outside of prison. This enables us to continue to meet the demand for programs inside and outside prison, and reach more participants without depending on paid staff. Since 2001, over 320 volunteers have facilitated Nonviolent Communication, mindfulness and equity classes inside prisons:
- To more than 8,100 incarcerated individuals
- Up to 12 times a week, 48 weeks a year
- Inside 9 facilities
That’s a lot of change!
