Additional Resources for youth and families impacted by familial incarceration
We're proud to share resources and connections to other organizations that may be helpful to our community. Please note that each of these organizations is independently operated, and we’re sharing their offerings and information as a way to support and connect people with helpful services. While we hope these resources are useful, we’re not responsible for the content, services, or any interactions you may have with them. We encourage you to reach out to those organizations directly if you have questions or need more information.
If you are a Project Avary participant or caregiver and need help with resources or making a connection, please reach out!
Programs for Children & Youth with Incarcerated Parents
Project What | (Bay Area, Ca)
Transforming Justice through programs and policy. Supports youth in harnessing their power to speak truth and help break cyclical impacts of mass incarceration.
We Got Us Now | (Nationwide)
Organization advancing the wellbeing of children and young adults with incarcerated parents.
Prison Family Alliance | (Las Vegas + Virtual Groups)
Committed to improving the lives of families and children who have or had a loved one in the criminal justice system.
Put Me In | (Nationwide)
Mission is to increase access to sports for children of incarcerated parents.
US Dream Academy | (Baltimore, Houston, Orlando, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, Washington DC)
Seek to offer children of incarcerated parents a safe place to go after school for academic support, mentoring and inspiration.
Osborne | (New York)
Serves individuals, families, and communities affected by the criminal legal system.
The Pathfinder Network | (Oregon)
Provides justice system-impacted individuals and families the tools and support they need to be safe and thrive in our community
Girls For A Change | (Virginia)
Prepare black girls for the world and the world for black girls.
Place for Grace | (California)
Mission is to restore families and advocate for children impacted by incarceration.
Girls Breaking Chains | (Georgia)
Committed to empowering young girls impacted by parental incarceration.
Developing Despite Distance | (Michigan)
Inspire and support young men experiencing parental incarceration by creating community safe spaces while helping them stay connected to their incarcerated parents.
Mentor for Change | (Los Angeles)
Programs that empower youth through mentorship, career, exploration, and leadership development.
Programs for Caregivers
Success Stories Program | (Nationwide)
Provide an alternative to prisons that builds safer communities.
Get on the Bus | (California)
Unites children with their mothers and fathers in prison. Statewide prison visiting program throughout California.
Root and Rebound | (California and South Carolina)
Serving community members with arrest or conviction history. Will help get access to lawyers, community advocates, and other resources to navigate employment, housing, family law, parole, probation, and more.
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children | (Various States)
Organizes communities impacted by the criminal justice system and advocates to release incarcerated people to restore human and civil rights and to reunify families and communities.
Prison Link | (Alabama)
Supports Black and Asian offenders, and their families to help deter them from, or reducing the risk of further custodial sentence.
Friends Outside | (California)
Provides programs, and services to families impacted by incarceration. Provides services within county jails, support groups, employment, and emergency assistance
Essie Justice Group | (California)
Mission is to harness the collective power of women with incarcerated loved ones to end mass incarceration's harm to women and communities.
Aid to Inmate Mothers | (Alabama)
Provides services to Alabama's incarcerated women with emphasis on enhancing personal growth and strengthening the bonds between mothers and their children.
Anti-Recidivism Coalition | (Los Angeles)
Works to end mass incarceration in California to ensure our communities are safe, healthy, and whole. Empowers formerly and currently incarcerated people to thrive by providing a support network comprehensive of reentry services.
National Fatherhood Initiative | (Nationwide)
Empowers communities and human service organizations to unlock the transformative power of involved fatherhood by championing city and statewide fatherhood initiatives.
For Educators, Community Organizations, and Other Providers
Family-Based Justice Center | (Nationwide)
Delivers training and technical assistance to states, communities, local courts, and tribal governments to implement or enhance family based alternative programs.
The Omowale Project | (Nationwide)
Helps justice-focused nonprofits strengthen their foundations and navigate crisis to ensure long-term survival. Work includes supporting mergers, transitions, and ensuring that struggling organizations can evolve while maintaining their mission, values, and cultural integrity.
Non Prison Related Local Resources for Families
Eviction Defense | (San Francisco, CA)
Eviction Defense Collaborative (EDC) is the principal organization in San Francisco fighting on behalf of low-income tenants facing eviction and working to prevent homelessness.
Hamilton Families | (San Francisco, CA)
Mission is to end family homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area. Programs specialize in providing shelter and transitional housing in times of need, supporting the wellbeing and academic achievement of children who experience homelessness.
Alameda County Community Food Bank | (Alameda County, CA)
Distributes millions of healthy meals every year. On the forefront of new approaches to ending hunger and poverty.
San Francisco - Marin Food Bank | (San Francisco & Marin Counties, CA)
Provides immediate distribution of food while simultaneously working on long-term strategies to address hunger and empower neighbors in need.
Contra Costa - Solano Food Bank | (Contra Costa & Solano Counties, CA)
Leading the fight to end hunger, in partnership with the community to service neighbors in need. Distributes emergency and supplemental meals.
Bloom | (Bay Area, CA)
Bloom support women, men, and children by providing a two week high quality wardrobe at no cost to enhance ability to secure employment and actively engage in the community.
Abode Services | (Bay Area, CA)
Mission to end homelessness by assisting low-income, unhoused people, including those with special needs, to secure stable supportive housing, and to be advocates for the removal of the causes of homelessness.
Community Action Marin | (Marin County, CA)
Breaks down the barriers that community members face to be able to support themselves. Gives community members more than just the tools to meet the basic requirements for survival.
Other Community Resources
Point Reyes National Seashore Association | (Point Reyes, CA)
Creates opportunities for all people to experience, enhance, and preserve Point Reyes National Seashore for present and future generations.
Mewater Foundation | (San Francisco, CA)
Provides day and overnight surf camps to youth, families, and groups, with a mental health approach to mindfulness, empowerment, and exposure to the ocean and the great outdoors.
Make It Home Bay Area | (Northern California)
Aides in furnishing homes and providing hope for families in great need in efforts to end poverty.
Project Heart | (California)
Project H.E.A.R.T. recognize the essential role of true friendship in the recovery process. Encourages others to fill their lives with friendship instead of drug abuse and criminal activity.
Little Justice Leaders | (Nationwide)
Provides curriculum, professional development, and community, you need to build a learning culture rooted in social justice.
Community Education Partnerships | (Bay Area, CA)
Serves Bay Area students experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. CEP provides homeless and housing-insecure K-12 students free one-on-one tutoring in all subjects (in-person and virtual), school supplies (available year-round), weekly homework clubs at several shelter sites in the East Bay, and enrollment and administrative assistance.