Grandmothers of the Light

Our Mission is actually divided into three areas, separate but interrelated. We feel that each of the three is so important that they must be treated with equal respect and dedication.

One: Grandmothers Of The Light, focusing on children of incarcerated parents or grandparents.

Keeping relationships alive when one of the people in that relationship is incarcerated is no easy task. Add to that, one of the people is a child who cannot drive a car, get on a plane alone, or buy stamps to mail a letter, and what you get is estrangement, however involuntary and sorrowful. In the state of California there are almost a million children who have at least one parent in jail, prison or on parole. No one even knows the exact numbers because it is so difficult to obtain that information legally and effectively. The actual numbers could be and probably are much larger.

Our Mission is to seek and accomplish family reunification by one of several means. a few of which are listed below.

1. Furnishing transportation, lodging, meals and other needs for visits by the children to parents in correctional institutions.

2. Contributing to payment of phone bills so that children may receive a 15 minute collect call from a parent once a week.

3. Furnishing writing materials and postage so that children and inmates may correspond.

4. Paying for photos of children on holidays, birthdays or school pictures so parents and grandparents can have current pictures of the kids they love.

5. Providing holiday and birthday gifts for the children from an incarcerated parent or grandparent.

Two: California Coalition For Children

All children deserve to be happy, healthy, educated and whole. But in California 1 in 5 children lives in poverty. While many of these kids have an incarcerated parent, many more are being raised in single parent families, or in families whose income is below the government standard. We reach out to all these children to provide for needs that cannot be met by their families. Some of these kids would like to belong to clubs or organizations that require uniforms, dues or money for outings, we will supply that. Some of them need special tutoring, money for field trips, school clothes or supplies, a musical instrument, a computer, or any number of things to further their education, identity and self esteem. We are here for them. And how about birthdays, Christmas, Halloween costumes and other holiday parties and events for which there is no extra money in the family? Our grandmothers (and others) want to help.

Three: The California Prisoners Coalition

If we want to help the children, we must also help the parents and grandparents who are incarcerated. About 80% of them are incarcerated for non violent crimes or drugs. A majority have no real work skills or support system on the streets. About 70% will go back into custody through the revolving door of recidivism. More than 90% come from abusive or dysfunctional homes. The majority have low self esteem, poor educations, and no way to make much of a living. But the one thing they all have in common is that they do love their kids and grand kids, just like the rest of us.

If you want to know the best person to teach a child NOT to go to jail, ask an incarcerated parent. They want a better life for their kids, a brighter future. Even better, they have a lot more influence over their kids than you and I do. Kids love their parents, even lousy parents, and like it or not folks, their role model is Mom and Dad even if they are doing a life sentence. We want to let incarcerated parents BE parents as best they can from behind bars. You will find that the vast majority will tell their kids to go to school, brush their teeth, make their beds, go to church, and be good. The ones who won't have usually already lost their parental rights anyway.

This Coalition is to further prison reform, rehabilitation, and restoration of parents and grandparents behind bars who do not want to lose their families while they are doing time.