For the last several years, Healing Communities PA partnered with the Metropolitan Christian Council of Philadelphia on the Restorative Cities Initiative™️, a grassroots “porch front to city hall” model of bringing restorative practices to every part of community life, particularly in BIPOC [...]Read More
Justice Through Healing
Equal Justice USA today is a much different organization than it was more than 20 years ago at our founding. Then we were focused sharply on ending the death penalty through state campaigns, and we’ve succeeded on that front. As important as those wins are, what we learned from those campaigns [...]Read More
For People in Prison, a Listening Ear Can Make All the Difference
by Paige DeurMatthew grew up in a Christian family. At nineteen, he gave his life to Christ and began to see his life transform.Four years later, he found his life falling apart as he sunk into depression. “This was at the beginning of my marriage when I was supposed to be happy, but I wasn’t happy [...]Read More
Sacred Neighboring
By Rev. Dr. Lori E. Banfield34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited [...]Read More
The Weaponization of Trauma upon Reentry
by Antonio (Tony) PizarroWhat is trauma? How does trauma affect reentry? This is the question that we should be asking ourselves. We fight collectively for liberation. Yet, once liberation is achieved there is no fight to address the traumatizing events that could hinder a successful reentry into [...]Read More
How our Church got Involved in Mass Incarceration
by Joe MarcucciOur entry to the dizzying world of Mass Incarceration began with the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, and the book Rethinking Incarceration by Dominique Gilliard. We were determined to move the marker for what our church was engaged with. When the initial registration for our [...]Read More
As a product of America’s school to prison pipeline, I…
by Michael SimmonsCW: This post includes stories about suicidal ideation.I remember the first time I wanted to kill myself. It was the day of what was supposed to be a fun game of football between two teams of freshman high school students. During the game, a play was called in the huddle, and our [...]Read More
Locked in Solidarity 2023: Addressing Mental Health and Trauma from Juveniles through Reentry
Navigate this webpage:Introduction to LIS 2023It’s that time of year again! Locked in Solidarity, CCDA’s awareness & action week on mass incarceration, is February 5-13, 2023. Mark your calendars and rally your community for this important annual focus. We were able to gather [...]Read More