Welcome to September at On The Inside
It is a real gift to be told a story. It becomes a part of us, and is something we get to carry with us wherever we go. Thank you for being a part of our story, for opening this email and for giving it your time and attention. In the pace of today's world, I know time is invaluable, and your presence and attention here matter a great deal to us.
Thank you.
“We are all soul survivors and it’s time to take the mask off and let ourselves SHINE through.”
-Wyoming Women’s Center, current student
Not too long ago my cousin passed away. She was a woman that was an Aunt to me always, and more so when my own mother passed away when I was just a kid. After her passing, I sat down to write some words about who she was to me. Writing is something that has always helped me process the world and my emotions. Writing is a tangible way to see something, feel something, and let it move through us.
I share the words about my cousin, Ellen Donaldson, here with you all now:
“I’ll always remember how the light poured through this window today, as you slept and your breathing machine hummed with life. And how I sat on the floor at the edge of your bed watching the light dance across the floor and through your room.”
I’ll remember our brief lunchtime conversation– and how you told me that my daughters were readers like my mother and that you housed books that belonged to my mother, and that my mother inspired your love of stories too.
I’ll remember how soft your skin is, and how you nibbled away at the sandwich and the salad your daughter and I made. And how when you asked me what was in it, I said “we threw everything in your fridge into a bowl and mixed it around”, and you said, “delicious finger food.”
I’ll remember you in your red silk pj’s and picking the arugula off your chest and eating it only to be closer to you.
I’ll remember the moment you thought I was gone but was just on the floor with the dogs and how we all laughed.
I’ll remember your breath, rise and fall
softly through the sheets
and how light transitions
and so we do too.
I share these words, this story of loss because our lives are about connection. Holding on to someone or something and as we find connection- with ourselves and each other we begin to make meaning out of it all. Each week when we gather with the women on these pages, stories pour out of us.
We are not separate from each other, we are connected to each other.
When we work and operate and move from a place of connection-
Whole worlds open up.
This month, we will take Ellen’s books, hundreds of them that were left to us in her passing, and we will distribute them to the women we serve at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women, the Wyoming Women’s Center, and Coffee Creek Correctional Facility.
Ellen and her stories live on, in the women that we serve.
Our stories save us and remind us of our deep connection to each other. Thank you for being a part of ours.
-Nikki Weaver
Founder, On The Inside
“I waited till my kids were older to get in trouble with the law. I’ve been incarcerated for 16 years and I’ve got another 6 to go. I’ve missed so many important moments. I’m just hopeful that in the next 6 years they will start talking to me again.”
-Wyoming Women’s Center, current student
Every time I am lucky enough to bear witness I am affirmed that our work is slowly changing the way women might experience incarceration. Our service of listening, offering tangible tools, and creating together in a judgment-free zone reminds people of who they are, not what they did.
Your support is needed to help us continue this work long into the future. Please consider taking action by becoming a monthly donor today, a small or large monthly donation allows us to create long-term positive change for women inside so that when they are released back into our communities, we are helping prevent recidivism as a collective. We are bettering ourselves and bettering each other. We are working towards prisons (should they continue to exist) to be a place where real healing can take place, instead of a place of punishment.
“I made it!”
–Wyoming Women’s Center,
a student that emailed us as she was released.
A couple of weeks ago we received this email, “I made it!’, from one of our former students at the Wyoming Women’s Center as she left prison, and ventured across state lines into Colorado. We were one of her first points of contact as she found her newfound freedom. You can bet that Carol and I both smiled and cried as we received this news. A full-circle moment that helped us understand the importance of this work and its impact.
Get in on the storytelling with us and join one of our two Fall class series offerings coming up, more information is below.
Mark your calendars for an intimate in-person gathering–
Stepping forward, remembering the past, and honoring our future forward
*a fundraising event to support our work*
Sunday, September 11
9:30am-12pm PT
Low-key yoga with Nikki
Delicious nibbles, tea/coffee/bubbly water/mimosas
Words and art from our students, supporters and sponsors
Live music with special guests
Bring a yoga mat, a blanket/mug for your brunch picnic, and an open heart
RSVP pretty please-
$50 suggested donation paid on Venmo: @ontheinside or on our website
*Location: Portland, OR
*Address sent after RSVP/Donation has been received
“I hope to not be afraid of change, but to be ready to change.”
–Nebraska Correctional Center for Women current student
We need your support today–
As we continue to build and expand our work your continued support is now more important than ever. A monthly donation ensures our ability to offer supplies, build new programming, and travel to each facility to teach, and soon to begin to train new facilitators in each of these states/countries as we build trained facilitators in more areas across the globe. Think- Australia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Virginia, Boston, Croatia, and New Mexico. We have women working with us in these parts of the world eager to lead, ready for training.
Make an ongoing monthly donation today, and know that your money is going to support women in desperate need of connection, healing, and creativity.
$10 p/month supports one woman through our 8-week class series.
$50 p/month supports one woman’s creative supplies needed for our class series providing them with: a folder, paper, new colored pencils, a certificate, a journal, and a pencil.
$100 p/month allows us to send the creative supplies needed for these classes to each facility.
I choose to support an incarcerated woman by making a monthly donation today.
“I use laughter and smiles to shield me from my actual pain of sitting inside prison.”
–Nebraska Correctional Center for Women, current student
Thank you for being a growing part of our journey, our failures and our successes as we navigate slow and intentional growth to keep this work fresh, accessible, and necessary.
REGISTRATION now OPEN for our signature four-class series -
Our four-class series is a great way to become a part of our work, learn about the class structure, create with us, and build community. Each class occurs over Zoom so you can participate from anywhere. Every class you can expect to share, create, receive, and learn as we make work that goes into our facilities and works from our inside students is shared with us.
*These are the last two class series we will offer in 2022, don’t wait, jump in on the work with us now.
Our NEXT two class series meets on-
-Series 1: Tuesdays 10am-12pm PT/1-3pm ET
September 20 & 27
October 4 & 11
-Series 2: Thursdays 4-6pm PT/7-9pm ET
October 6, 13, 20, & 27
This series is co-led by Caroline Cox, Project Manager at On The Inside, and Nikki Weaver Founder.
Zoom links and instructions are sent out after payment is made. We offer a sliding scale and full scholarships too, all you need to do is connect us. Payment can be made right here. Please connect with us if you would like to join our next class series and specify which four classes you would like to attend. The work builds upon itself so it is essential that you prioritize attending all four sessions.
You can join our four week class series, and then continue on in our monthly class by signing up here.
2022 Monthly Group Gatherings (2 hours)-
Saturday, Jan 8 HOPE
Tuesday, Feb 8 ENDURANCE
Thursday, March 3 AGILITY
Tuesday, April 5 TRUTH
Monday, May 2 CREATIVITY
Wednesday, June 1 JOURNEYS
Thursday, July 7 SHADOW WORK
Monday, August 1 LOVE
Thursday, September 1 COURAGE
Saturday, October 1 FLEXIBILITY
Wednesday, November 2 VALUES
Thursday, December 1 HOPE
**all monthly group meetings are 12 pm-2 pm PT/3 pm-5 pm ET
We hope to see you in class this year- join us for four sessions and then move into our monthly group as we deepen the connections, strengthen our creativity, and build long-lasting relationships with women inside and outside prison facilities.
Your actions matter. Your words matter. How you show up matters.
Much love and gratitude for your ongoing support,
Nikki Weaver and Caroline Cox
–Founder and Project Manager
OUR MISSION
On The Inside builds a creative connection for incarcerated women, both individually and collectively. We do this by telling our stories, igniting our hearts, and sparking dialogue. Creative connection for the greater good, we create a community for women on the inside and outside by breaking down the walls that keep us apart.
The United States houses over 1.3 million incarcerated women.
We aim to change that.
Creativity is what keeps us alive, it is what draws us together. Our stories save us and have the ability to heal us. Healing is both collective and deeply personal. We create shared dialogue by holding a container for women to transform themselves. We do this through creative prompts where each woman has a voice in the room, through exploratory movement, creating a rolodex of emotions to draw from, and boundaries to hold.
We begin.
We create.
We play together.
We share.
We seek closure.
We begin again.
We hold weekly classes to gather in a circle. We create weekly newsletters where women on the outside create work (poetry, art, song) for women on the inside, and the women on the inside do the same. We create living, breathing works of art that move us far beyond the page, beyond the stage, and into a space of embodiment.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Dr. Lisa Collins
Karen Pride
Nomi Conway
Fungai Mubayiwa
Katie Morell
Caroline Cox
Megan Gaffney
Atieno Bird
Dr. Mercy Nyangulu Nyepudzayi
Jazmin Jimenez
Cindy Lone
Tina Packer
Mia Zara
Marie Gonzalez
Beck Wilschefski
Elena Brower
Together, we stretch four continents wide.
Collectively, we are making a difference by creating together.
You are always invited to join our work, join our collective, and join our creative expanding circle.
Support
Support our work by sustaining a woman through a monthly contribution right here. Your donation will support the ongoing weekly and monthly work we continue to build in person, and online.
