This past weekend we welcomed 32 family members for an extended visit through our Moms & Kids program at York C.I. This was the first visit since Covid to take place in the school, allowing families to have more space and a break from the traditional visiting room.

The visit was pure joy, as the families entered one little boy broke into a full sprint—running down the hallway to leap into his mom’s waiting arms. For many of the participants this was the first visit with their children not in the traditional visiting hour time frame.

JDPP teaching artists led the full group in a warm-up exercise followed by 5 stations of themed activities and game playing. The families made friendship bracelets, badges of courage, wrote their wishes for one another on stars, and filled in a writing prompt on perseverance. Each themed station had a coordinating book that families read together.

During the art activities families had their photos taken and printed out so that they could leave with a special memory. Another highlight of the visit was that the families were able to share a special snack with each other. This was another wonderful return to our pre-covid visits and incredibly important to everyone there.

One of JDPP’s volunteers, Scarlett, had a special moment when she was reunited with the daughter of one of the participants. The two of them had participated in the very beginning of the Moms & Kids program as well as JDPP’s afterschool program for children with an incarcerated loved one. Scarlett is the daughter of JDPP’s Programming Coordinator, Suzi Jensen, and she participated in both program while her maternal grandmother was a resident at York CI. It was a beautiful reminder of how important and long-lasting the connections made through these programs are.

It was a beautiful afternoon filled with laughter and light. Each participant expressed their happiness and the importance of the group. As one mom said, “My understanding and role as a mom has changed because of this work”.