Temple Alumni New Project Proposal

The Inside-Out Alumni group at Temple University is gearing up to begin an exciting new program working with a Re-Entry Project. The project is still in the development phase, but things are moving quickly toward implementation through a collaboration with the Community College of Philadelphia.

Here's the proposal for their project:

The Temple University alumni group of The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program is proposing an “Inside-Out”-inspired workshop series with participants of the Community College of Philadelphia -Cambria Re-Entry Pilot. Our vision of the project incorporates Inside-Out values, processes, and parameters applied to an ongoing project that would include the inside participants of the Cambria Pilot as well as Temple University and CCP Inside-Out alumni in weekly dialogues about crime and justice as it pertains to course work assigned by CCP in their respective pilot. Our hope is that this will not only offer constructive and innovative programming for the inside participants, but will also allow previous Inside-Out outside participants to continue to engage what they learned about dialogue, encounters with individuals of different backgrounds, and the setting of correctional institutions. Moreover, the intent is to complement the Cambria pilot in a fashion that will facilitate the success of all involved in this innovative effort with an overarching synchronicity in motivation and outcome.

We envision the project to consist of a once-a-week workshop (ten weeks) involving conversations about subject matter with a unifying theme. We will begin this series in mid-January. While there will be a facilitator designated to maintain focus and to facilitate dialogue, there will not be a single leader of the class, but rather group ownership (a shared collective) of the material and the conduct of the workshops. The workshops will be based on intergroup dialogue and conducted in a circle format as are Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program classes, with one-on-one and small group discussions along with large group dialogue. Ideally, the group will include equal numbers of outside and inside participants, so that all participants can feel on an equal footing with one another. Realistically, according to the numbers to date, the outside members comprise about six to ten members. We plan to hold a series of recruitment presentations at Inside-Out final classes in the upcoming week in an effort to bolster membership for Temple’s group and the CCP pilot project.

More information about this project coming soon!

Funding Request to all Inside-Out members

Greetings,

A couple of weeks ago, I emailed our latest newsletter to you, along with the request to consider making a donation to Inside-Out. Thank you to those who have responded so far. This is a follow-up, in the face of all the mad busyness of December, because we honestly need your help.

We are at a really critical juncture. To sustain Inside-Out for the next few months, as we continue to plot a very exciting future, we hope that you’ll consider a donation to keep the program going full-steam in the interim. Can you donate $250, or pool gifts from a few enthusiastic friends or associates to equal that amount or more?

In fact, your gift will pack a double punch. We have an amazing challenge from a donor right now – if we raise $20,000, this person will match it dollar for dollar.

Inside-Out needs your help this winter to make the transition to a financially sustainable program. As you know, the program has grown tremendously in a few short years. Thanks in large part to your work on the ground, Inside-Out has already affected the lives of at least 8,000 inside and outside students.

Yet, just as this growth has opened up the doors to incredible new possibilities, it has also put a real strain on our infrastructure. We are in the midst of a strategic planning process designed to build on our success and expand our impact into the future. To do the planning right takes time: we are working hard to map out the wisest, most comprehensive, sustainable, and productive path going forward.

Due to the economic crisis, we have not received the grant funding we were hoping for this year to carry us through this strategic planning phase and into the future. We have identified several very promising funding possibilities that should be within reach with a few more months of concerted work.

To realize these opportunities while providing continued support to instructors and alumni, we need to raise $50,000 by February 15th. We are turning to you, our core supporters, to help us out. If you – and anyone you know – could donate anything at all to the program, from $50 to $5,000, it would make a huge difference.

We hope you’ll share the appeal and newsletter that we sent a couple weeks back with friends, family, colleagues, former students, and others who might be likely to support Inside-Out as we continue to create new opportunities for dialogue and collaborative education.

How to donate: http://www.insideoutcenter.org/donate.html

In some important ways, we have begun to change lives and the prison system. We want the Inside-Out Center to be able to continue to offer support and community to all instructors and alumni – in fact, we want to offer you more meaningful support and engagement over time, and to push forward our promising new initiatives, which started in such a grassroots way. Please help us keep this program strong, focused on our core values and our mission – as urgent now as it has ever been. Thanks so much.

Have a wonderful holiday,

Lori Pompa

Fall 2010 Inside-Out Newsletter

The second national newsletter for the Inside-Out Program has arrived!  It features content from the Pacific Northwest, as well as news about alumni programs.  Please be sure to check it out.