On November 19, 2018, Jill Gonzalez, the Executive Director of the @WSPTexas, talked to Austin University Area Rotary about the benefits of building the connection between incarcerated mothers and their children thru books read by the mothers. After 3 months of good behavior, the imprisoned mothers are eligible for the Storybook program. Mothers pick out a children’s book for their kids, and then volunteers record the moms reading the book to their children. Storybook then creates a CD of the mother reading the book, and delivers the book and the CD to the children. This simple activity keeps the bond alive between mother and child, and is linked with reduced recidivism in the mothers. Two letters on the program (one from a child, one from a caregiver) simply touch your heart. For more about StoryBook, including volunteering activities, see https://storybookproject.org/
Here are two letters about the program - one from a daughter who receives books, and another from a caretaker.
