Prison Babies

This past Saturday, it took only a few hours for Benevolent donors to step up and help Brianna keep her baby. It's not often that a small amount of money can help a mom and baby stay together, but this was a special circumstance. Brianna needed $210 to pay off a traffic fine so she could keep her baby and raise him from the moment he’s born. The baby’s due next month, and Brianna’s in prison. There’s a special program that will allow her to stay with and keep her baby, but not if she has any outstanding fines.

There was something about the simplicity and raw humanity of Brianna’s need. She’s a mom who wants to nurture her infant when he’s born. We can envision what it will look and feel like when Brianna holds her son. We can also imagine what it would feel like if he were taken from her. We’ve been parents; we’ve been parented; we’ve held newborns close and we’ve suffered hurts. We can feel the urgency of this even if we can’t imagine what it’s like to be in prison and to face the reality of a child being taken away from us.

Over 64% of the women in prison in this country have been convicted of nonviolent crimes, mostly property or drug offenses, and over 2,000 women in prison will give birth this year. Most of us know that babies are born to women serving time in prison and that the vast majority of women who give birth while incarcerated in the U.S. don't get to stay with their babies for even a week after they're born. We don’t often get the opportunity to change that for a mom and her baby. This week, we did.

I knew it. I knew that women in prison in the U.S. have their babies taken from them when they’re born. But I’ve got to tell you, I've never signed a petition, called my legislator or lobbied to urge policymakers to change prison policies and programs to allow women to remain with their babies, if they choose to, after birth.

When Brianna's need came to us, though, I felt an immediate surge of adrenaline. I knew we had to help this young woman get into the program that would allow her and her son to remain together, and I knew that donors would feel as I did. I was right. Seven donors from five different states took only seven hours to completely fund Brianna’s need.

If the donors felt anything like I did, it didn't matter to me how many times Brianna might have been arrested (only once, as it turns out), what the traffic tickets she had left unpaid were for, how many children she had (this will be her first) or whether she had made poor choices rather than paying her fines. All I could think about was the hours and days after my own children’s births, about the sweetness of their new skin, about the way they smelled, cried, and felt in my arms, about all the protectiveness and responsibility I felt for the fragile life in my arms.

In the U.S., we seem to cherish parenting for ourselves, but not always for others. Paid parental leave is not a protected right; all parents are expected to work starting as soon as six weeks after birth; and babies are taken from prisoners at birth. This makes us very different from many other countries and cultures.

In Germany, for example, mothers serving jail sentences can have their children remain with them until age four or six and some are allowed work-release privileges to go and parent their children. That's right; moms leave prison in the morning like anyone else headed off to a work-release job and their work is getting their children ready for school, taking care of their children's needs, and doing everything associated with being moms to their kids. At the end of the workday, they head back to prison like any other work-release prisoner. In Germany, being a parent is considered a vocation; a child’s need to have his or her mom present is valued; and systems are put into place to make the situation work.  

We helped Brianna and her baby to stay together.  What could we do to help the other 2,000+ moms who will give birth in prison this year to have the same option? I checked into it, because it seems to me that when a need we encounter on the Benevolent site strikes us as powerfully as this one struck me, we should find out how to get involved and become a part of the solution for people beyond the one we’re helping through the Benevolent site.

Here’s what I found...

• The Women’s Prison Association appears to be one of the strongest organizations engaging in research and advocacy work around the issues of women in prison. Their program work seems to be only in New York state, but their policy and advocacy work extends nation-wide. Interestingly, the president of the Board of Directors for this organization, Piper Kerman is the author of the book and new Netflix series about women in prison - Orange is the New Black.

• The National Institute of Corrections maintains a list of programs for women in prison state by state. You could use this website to find out how to get involved as an advocate or volunteer in your area.

So these are places for us to start. I hope that Brianna’s story touched you the way it touched me. I hit “send” on the payment to Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers earlier today so that Brianna’s fine can be paid and she can qualify for the program that will keep her together with her son when he’s born. I’m so glad we were there to help.

- megan kashner

  founder & ceo

  Benevolent

  www.benevolent.net

Happy 2nd B'Day to the Benevolent Idea

The earliest visual depiction
of the Benevolent concept

Can you believe it’s been two years since I woke up with the idea for Benevolent? Yep. It was February 13^th, 2011. Hard to believe that a half-formed idea that was born on a random Sunday morning in a sleepy-headed state has blossomed into today’s Benevolent.

When I look back on my early thoughts and sketches (I really can’t draw, so I used comic software to create storyboards), I am amazed at what it’s taken to get here, what the road ahead looks like, and how many people have been and continue to be a part of Benevolent’s infancy and youth.

So today, I’d like to take a moment and pause to say “thank you.”

• Thank you to those who believed in this idea in its earliest days and encouraged me to pursue it.
• Thank you to my amazing team of staff, volunteers, pro bono do-ers and advisors, Benevolent’s board, advisory board, kitchen cabinets, and friends.
• Thank you to those visionary and trusting nonprofit partners who took a chance on this new idea when we had no track record and nothing to prove we could deliver.
• Thank you to those who have stepped up to support Benevolent’s birth and development.
• Thank you to those who came forward, eager to help someone else in this new way; and a special thanks to those who took an additional step and sent a note of encouragement to the people you were choosing to help.
• Thank you to the bravest of the brave, the determined people who shared their stories, their challenges, and their dreams with us and invited us in to be a part of their progress.

You may have noticed that we can’t seem to keep needs posted to the site these days. People out there in the world can’t believe that we’re actually in a situation where the desire of people to give is out-stripping the pace at which we can get needs up onto the site. We post them; people keep coming back to check the site and contribute; and the needs are filled. It’s a great problem to have because it shows clearly that this is a way that people are excited to give and engage. You all are pioneers in this new-fangled way of lifting our neighbors toward their goals.

Now we on the Benevolent team get to do the work necessary to get more and more needs up on the site; engage more nonprofit partners to let their clients know the help is available; and expand the model to more cities.

So what are we actually doing back here behind the Benevolent curtain? We’re working on expanding to three new cities in an intensive way over the coming months. When we expand, we’ll be focusing on forging partnerships with excellent nonprofits, learning as we go, and improving what we do so that it’s easier and easier for everyone to engage – nonprofits, people who are facing challenges, and people who want to give.

For now, then, know that we’re here in the Chicago area, working on hiring excellent people, raising essential money, and making critical improvements so that we can achieve our dream of becoming national and providing a resource to allow people to connect, give and get help in ways that they couldn’t before.

Thanks for believing in us and thanks to all those who have been a part of making the first two years of the Benevolent concept so groundbreaking and thrilling.

- megan kashner, founder & ceo

  Benevolent

  www.benevolent.net

We Come by Mule Carts, in Old Trucks, by Facebook and Twitter

In 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King had expanded his focus and activism to include the legions of impoverished Americans, creating what he would call the “Poor People’s Campaign.” Dr. King believed that change would be effected through the dramatization of the reality of “joblessness and deprivation.” His intention was to bring the realities of poor people’s lives to light through a march on Washington, D.C. He said:

“We ought to come in mule carts, in old trucks, any kind of transportation people can get their hands on. People ought to come to Washington…and say ‘We are here, we are poor…’”

Today, we build on inspiration from Dr. King and we don’t have to resort to a one-time march or press opportunity to get a message across. Today we come by Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and mobile uploads, and we come in droves. Together we’re engaged in showing one another the “content of our character” as Dr. King might have put it, every day – across boundaries of race, distance, culture, and whatever else separates us. Today, we want to act on the content of our character to step in and help when helping is the right thing to do.

At Benevolent, we are inspired and amazed at how many of you have been converging on our site (www.benevolent.net) to take action and help someone. So many in recent weeks, in fact, that the site nearly crashed twice, and three times now we’ve out of needs to post. Some have sent us messages asking why there aren’t more people’s needs posted to our site. Others are asking how they can tell their stories and seek help.

Here’s the situation. Benevolent is just beginning. We hope one day soon to be working with nonprofits in every state to help them meet the needs of their clients and community members, but we’re intent on doing it right.

One of the reasons Benevolent makes so much sense is that each person whose story and video appear on the site has come to Benevolent through a local nonprofit in her or his community that knows her/him, the circumstances and the local resources and programs available.

This week, we met a need that had been posted by Life Initiatives, a nonprofit in South Dakota whose work is to support Native Americans “by addressing physical, emotional, spiritual and relational needs.” When we send the funds along to Life Initiatives, they will use that grant to help their client. He is getting the funds that he urgently needs -- and he didn’t have to ride in a mule cart to make his need known. You heard him.

To get this right, to spread Benevolent everywhere, we need to find and work with local nonprofits all over, to show them how to use the Benevolent platform to get the help their clients need when there are no resources in the local community to meet them.

So today as we celebrate the life and work of Dr. King and as we’re all inspired to act, we ask for your help, this time in reaching as many excellent local nonprofits as we can. Think about the social service agencies, workforce development programs, churches, and schools in your community. Take action to help introduce them to Benevolent and bring this critical help to their work.

Here’s a link to the pagewe’ve developed for nonprofits. It’s aimed at helping nonprofit professionals understand how they can work with us. Use what you learn there and reach out to a local nonprofit. Offer to help them engage with us. This way we can continue to expand organically. You can help.

Meanwhile we’re here behind the scenes, working to make it as easy as possible for nonprofits to work with us, seeking grants to expand into new communities, and using those grants to hire people to introduce Benevolent to local nonprofits in those areas. So far we’re hiring in Detroit, Charlotte, and the Bay Area.

Thanks for being inspired along with us and being on board with us at these early stages of growth. We’re doing something together that couldn’t have been done in Dr. King’s day and we’d like to think he would have been gratified that we are bringing to light the lives of people living in poverty, and we keep his words close to our hearts as we shape our work: "We need to be concerned that the potential of the individual is not wasted."

 - megan kashner, founder & ceo

  Benevolent

  www.benevolent.net

You’re Incredible

On the morning Christmas eve day, I put on a nice shirt and some makeup, asked the kids to excuse me for a little while, then sat in front of my computer for a TV interview accompanied by Benevolent supporter and believer Lisa Bloom (she was in a studio in LA). What happened next was nothing short of incredible.

If you haven’t been following Benevolent from its tiny inception this past year, here’s a recap. Benevolent started as an idea in February of 2011. By December of 2011 we were running a small pilot in the Chicago area. In September, we were ready to branch out and started working with just a few nonprofits in other cities to see if our systems stood up to the test. We were bolstered in that month when I was invited to speak to a gathering of philanthropy leaders at a White House Forum on Philanthropy Innovation. Benevolent began to get attention, and the opportunities started to flow.

In the weeks before that Christmas eve, a few wonderful grants were committed by some excellent foundations to help us expand into three to four new cities in the new year (stay tuned for those announcements next month). So on Christmas eve, the Benevolent office had been closed for the holidays. We had divvied up the responsibilities for responding to questions and managing the site through New Year’s, and then the interview ran on HLN – first live and then in one city after another across the country throughout the day.

Immediately, there was so much traffic on the Benevolent website that our servers had trouble keeping up. Within 33 minutes, 35 contributions came in, completing the funding needed for seven people. We filled all the needs that were posted, and people continued to reach out.

Since the 24^th, almost 200 new people have liked our Facebook page, over 90 signed up for our email mailing list, dozens posted to and liked messages on our Facebook wall and twitter feed, and several more sent us emails of encouragement, offers of help, ideas for expansion and contributions to fuel our work. Here’s one staggering (for us) number: on and after December 24^th, over 8,000 people – new people who had never heard of Benevolent before – visited our site.

What an amazing holiday gift. We’re thrilled to have helped so many people this year, and to have added so many members to the growing Benevolent community all in one day was breathtaking. We’re so pleased you’re all here.

There’s a flip side to this story, though. By the end of Christmas day, over 100 people had reached out directly to Benevolent asking for help. Homeless families, people with medical needs and debts too deep to tackle, seniors living without heat, students unable to continue their studies because of tuition burdens, and more.

So many stories of people sidelined by illness and injury, so many stymied in their efforts to reach sustainability for themselves and their families. They came in all at once and they’re still coming – like a flood, really. Each story tests my social worker mettle - my ability to continue to move forward and help, even when the stories and situations before me are painful and overwhelming.

In the middle of the flood of needs, on Christmas day, I took a breath and took a moment to focus on and read the outpouring from people wanting to help others in their communities, people eagerly awaiting new stories and new needs we’d put up on the site after the holidays, people asking how they could help bring Benevolent into their communities. I realized at that moment that this was it, this was the original idea I had woken with on February 13^th, 2011 – not even two years ago – the certainty that there was a match to be made between those facing one-time challenges with those who want to help.

I believed that if we made it possible for low-income adults to tell their stories of striving and to invite others into their success, then we, their neighbors, would step up to the challenge, eager to know who we’re helping and how we’re helping; that the way we give can transform someone’s life at a critical moment.

I believed in you, and you came through. Thank you for that. Thank you for believing in people who need our help to reach their goals. Thank you for sharing your stories and your personal experiences with us. Thank you for proving in Benevolent s first year that this is a way we want to give and get help, and that the way we give really is transforming.

Happy New Year to each and every one of you. May this year prove to be one in which you get to be the person you want to be. May this be the year we bring light into one another’s lives and hearts.

- megan kashner, founder & ceo

  Benevolent

  www.benevolent.net

Let the Giving Begin!

It’s early Thanksgiving morning, so perhaps my blog post should be titled “Let the Eating Begin!” or “Let the Shopping Begin!”

I hope you get to eat with your family, hug those you love, and shop for your friends and for yourself this week. Then, on Tuesday, when you’ve lived through the turkey, through Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, you’ll be ready.

You’ll have made it through the melee and you’ll have earned the calm fulfillment of Giving Tuesday. Benevolent is a Founding Member of the GivingTuesday movement and we’re hoping that Tuesday will, in fact, be your most rewarding, most self-rewarding day. After all, shopping is stressful - we worry about how much we’re spending and whom we’ve forgotten on our list; we worry about getting the best deals and about the buying decisions we’ve made.

Giving to help someone else, by contrast, is stress-free. We can do it without worrying that we’re paying too much, without worrying if the person we’re buying for will like or appreciate the sentiment behind our gift.

This Thanksgiving day, I’m thinking about Bart. He and his wife and kids could have such an excellent holiday season if we come together to help them over these few months while Bart’s training to become a welder. They need help with winter clothes for their three kids, including school uniforms and snow boots.

Here’s how Bart describes himself:

“I think of myself mostly as a great dad, loving husband, provider, humble, positive, and self-motivated. I live with my wife of 11 years and three beautiful kids - two sons and a daughter. I am going to school at JARC to become a welder. I've worked at jobs including parking attendant, machine operator, sales rep, security officer, and a material handler. Something interesting about me is I enjoy reading books, playing video games, playing sports, and traveling. I have a positive attitude and am a good father.”

Today is the opening bell of the giving season. Today I invite you to join me: take a breath and reward yourself by stepping away from holiday stress and helping someone out when it really matters.

When you take stock of all you’re thankful for today, remember to be grateful that you have the opportunity to give. I know I am.

- megan kashner, founder & ceo

  Benevolent

  www.benevolent.net