Staying in Closer Touch Program Expands to Huron Valley Women’s Correctional Facility
This past summer the Family Book Club was invited to bring our Staying In Closer Touch to the Huron Valley Women’s Correctional Facility (HVWCF). This program unites incarcerated parents and their children through reading. The parent reads aloud a book while a volunteer makes an audio recording. FBC sends a CD of the mother reading aloud along with the book to each child.
In August we began recruiting volunteers to work with the incarcerated moms, bought supplies, began the process of obtaining security clearances and volunteer training. The program met with the first group of women at the correctional facility in September. The number of children served by Staying in Closer Touch has now increased by over 100 percent. The incarcerated mothers express their deep appreciation for this program over and over. They ask who is buying the books. They are so grateful to have this opportunity to connect with their children in this special and meaningful way. We have found the staff at HVWCF to be very supportive of this program. Our volunteers find the work very rewarding. We know we are doing something very meaningful for these parents and their children.
