People who serve time in prison are less likely to re-offend and return if they have a connection to the community when they’re released. 

That’s why the Frederick Douglass Project for Justice, a national nonprofit that works to change perceptions of the criminal justice system, leads tours of prisons for the general public and facilitates conversations with the people incarcerated there. The Douglass Project brought this program to Ohio three months ago,  with visitations to the Northeast Reintegration Center (NERC), a women’s facility in Cleveland, and Pickaway Correctional Institution southwest of Columbus in Orient. 

Louis Reed, executive vice president of the Douglass Project, said the program’s goal is to reduce bias and create lasting community connections. Those connections can help reduce recidivism. 

“What this does is it initiates and fosters learning, it builds powerful human connection,” he said. “It also ignites mutual transformation that really gives people hope, and it de-stigmatizes folks.” 

The Douglass Project started in 2019 and now offers visits to 10 prisons in eight states, though Colorado’s program is virtual instead of in person. 

The project has a local ambassador in each of its cities. Malika Kidd is Cleveland’s ambassador. 

“You’re never going to be a good neighbor by being a national organization coming from the outside when you don’t have a feel for the community,” Reed said.

‘It gives them hope’

During each visitation, incarcerated program participants and community members meet in a large group for an icebreaker question. For example, “What brought you joy today?” Reed said. 

After an overview of the visitation’s goals and expectations, smaller groups get together and have a discussion using guided questions such as, “If you could select one book to put in the Library of Congress, what would it be and why?” or “If you could go back in time and invent something, what would it be and why?”

The questions intentionally don’t focus on why a person was incarcerated. Talking about their case can trigger trauma, Reed said. 

“The why is evident, the why is that I broke the law. … People are really focused on the where,” Reed said. “Where do I want to be? How do I want to accomplish those things?”

The visit ends with another full group discussion where people share what they had in common with someone, how the experience changed their mind or what they’ll take away from the conversation. 

For visitors, the conversations remove a degree of separation from the justice system and challenge assumptions and stereotypes, Reed said. 

For incarcerated people, the conversations help foster connections and work on public speaking. The visits also give them hope. 

“It gives them hope in a way that other people can socialize with them outside of those that they might feel have to socialize with them by virtue of family relationship,” he said. 

‘When a woman is incarcerated, who shows up for her?’

Reed was in Cleveland last month for NERC’s third visit, filling in for Kidd. Working with prison justice organizations hits close to home for Reed.   

When Reed was five years old, both of his parents were incarcerated. His grandmother raised him. He also spent 14 years in a federal prison.

After he was released, Reed worked for REFORM Alliance, an organization that advocates for changes to probation and parole. He also worked for #cut50, which works to cut the prison population in half. 

Through that work, he helped pass 15 bills addressing dignity for incarcerated women across the country, he said. 

The visitation program in Cleveland is integral to the organization raising awareness of the needs of women who are incarcerated, Reed said. The needs in a women’s prison are unique and specific because seven out of every 10 women who are incarcerated are mothers, Reed said. 

When men go to prison, women show up to visit, whether it’s a grandmother, mother, wife or girlfriend, Reed said. 

“But when a woman is incarcerated, who shows up for her?” he said. “You can hear conversations echo against the wall in a women’s visitation room.” 

The Douglass Project hosts visits to Northeast Reintegration Center once a month. The next visit is on May 16. Visit the organization’s website to sign up.