Impact

Launched in July 2022, CRI's weekly healing circles are run by formerly incarcerated and system-impacted staff members. We honor the practices of Native Americans, First Nations and Indigenous people who have used healing circles as a means to create and sustain interconnectedness.

Each week, participants gather at CRI's office and discuss topics such as accountability, regret, loss and grief, and fear. The topic is different every week. Through these circles, we aim to build community and create space for all voices to share and listen, without judgment and defensiveness. By allowing community to find healthy and restorative ways to heal, we are offering a more effective vision of accountability in sharp contrast to our criminal legal system.

CRI's Community Building Healing Circles are free of charge, open to everyone, and occur every Tuesday at CRI's office in San Francisco:
3030B 16th St, across from 16th St Mission BART Station
6:30 PM to 8:00 PM
Ring doorbell upon arrival
No costs, fees, or preregistration required.

For more information, email Rodrigo Gomez at rigo@cr-i.org

Last Day of Freedom

CRI collaborates with artists Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman, on the arts based program, Living Condition. Living Condition uses video to support former clients, their families, and community members to tell their stories. Research shows that narrative retelling of traumatic events is one of the most effective treatments for Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Client and family videos are then animated and shared publicly. Participants in this project have found the experience to be empowering and healing. The program also raises public awareness of these critical issues. 

Last Day of Freedom, a short documentary film, was born out of this program and has garnered widespread accolades, including a 2016 Academy Award nomination.

Artist Residency

Artists spend time with CRI client families and community members. Through these relationships, the artists use their mediums to develop narratives. These narratives help CRI broaden our understanding of the cycles of incarceration, disadvantages, and trauma. Additionally, these narratives provide a means for families and community members to experience the healing power of having their stories honored and reflected back to them.

Work produced by Leyla Faye Margolis during her residency at CRI was displayed at San Francisco’s de Young Museum in The de Young Open show.

Music for the Masses

Music for the Masses pairs the children of incarcerated and deported parents with musicians in order to explore children’s interests in a musical instrument. When the students sound and feel prepared, the participants put on a recital for their community. Upon graduation, students are given a certificate and their own instrument. Once graduated, if desired, the children can  continue to work with a mentoring musician in their community.

Reading Across the Lines

Reading Across the Lines developed over a decade ago as a supportive program to CRI’s death penalty eradication and mitigation work as a means of increasing the connection between incarcerated parents and their children. RATL began when our client Michael was placed in isolation. He could not write or receive letters, place or accept telephone calls, or meet with family in person or through visiting glass. The only contact he was allowed was through his legal team. As we watched him deteriorate, we reached out for suggestions. Another client, Anh, who had been in and out of isolation for some years, suggested when Michael calls, we record him reading stories, then pass on the recording and book to his three children. We took Anh’s suggestion and were astounded by what happened. Michael’s children, as well as his cousins, became enamoured with the books and recordings. CRI now has the capacity to expand outreach, to connect children with their incarcerated parents through a reading program modeled after Ahn, Michael, and their families.

Family Services

CRI’s Family Services program works with the children and families of incarcerated people. Through this program, CRI supports families to alleviate the trauma of incarceration. CRI staff develop action plans with families struggling to maintain familial bonds and provide crisis intervention responding to specific family needs. This can be supporting families in purchasing clothing, finding housing and connecting families with outside organizations.

CRI also runs an annual holiday gift program for children with incarcerated parents and loved ones.