Involving children of prisoners in a Martin Luther King, Jr., Day event
Abstract
For AmeriCorps*VISTA members, Martin Luther King, Jr., Day offers a unique opportunity to fulfill the Corporation's goals of increasing volunteerism and satisfying member responsibilities of planning mentor/mentee activities. For children of incarcerated parents, this day of service can prove to offer a sense of accomplishment, while educating them about the life of this great leader.Issue
Organizing activities for a Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service that are relevant for children of incarcerated parents in a mentoring program takes a good deal of planning and expertise.Action
According to the AmeriCorps*VISTA member who developed this protocol, when involving volunteers in a Martin Luther King, Jr., Day (MLK) service event include the following steps:
Research and Gather Information
- Search for MLK Day service events in your organization's service area at least one month prior to the service day. Use sources that include:
- Websites (such as the Corporation for National and Community Service, City Year, and universities)
- Newspaper advertisements/articles
- Radio advertisements
- Local congregations
- Gather information for each event, including:
- Volunteer opportunities
- Date and time
- Location
- Directions and accessibility to public transportation
- Call the event coordinator to verify specific details of each event
- Confirm the event is "child friendly" with respect to the ages of children in your mentoring program
- Ask about volunteer capacity (How many volunteers, including children, can the event accommodate?)
Select an Event
- E-mail event options to the project manager/director and copy (Cc) upper management
- The e-mail should include:
- Your recommendation and reason(s) for recommendation
- Time frame for a response
Contact Martin Luther King, Jr., Day Event Coordinator
- After receiving a response from the project manager/director and/or upper management, contact the event coordinator.
- Inform the coordinator that your upper management has selected their site if she/he is willing to host volunteers from your organization.
- If the event coordinator agrees to host your volunteers, request the hosting organization open up volunteer opportunities for a set amount of matches to serve as volunteers.
- Confirm specifics of volunteer duties during the event.
- Verify what matches will need to bring (such as any special clothing, lunch, water, and any other unique considerations).
- Let event coordinator know that you will contact matches and then provide the names of interested matches.
Letter to Mentors
- Draft a letter to mentors that includes details of the event, driving directions, and any other practical considerations. Also note that you will be the contact person for the event.
- E-mail a draft letter to the project manager for review if necessary and copy (Cc) upper management.
- Make appropriate revisions to the draft letter.
- Send the approved letter to mentors via e-mail or physical mail.
Note: Make sure to blind copy (Bcc) all names so that e-mail addresses on the list are not shared. - Follow-up with mentors as needed.
Service Event
- Give the event coordinator the names of matches signed up for the service event prior to the event date.
- Participate in the event with matches being certain to
- Interact with matches
- Take photographs (make sure to follow your organization's photography consent procedure)
Follow-up
- After the event, send a hand-written "thank you" note to the event coordinator.
- E-mail the AmeriCorps*VISTA project director with results of the MLK Day service event, being sure to copy the project manager and upper management, and include:
- Summary of event
- Host organization
- Number of matches
- Time, date, location
- Outcome
- Photographs
Context
In the United States 7.3 million children have one or both parents under some form of state or federal supervision. According to the Amachi organization, without effective intervention, 70 percent of these children will themselves become incarcerated. The Amachi mentoring program was developed to provide a consistent presence of loving, caring people of faith for this at-risk population.
Amachi mentors meet weekly with a child with whom they have been carefully matched; they often live and worship in the same neighborhoods. Amachi's hope is that one-to-one mentoring by caring adults will significantly improve the life opportunities of the children.
In 2003 Big Sister Association of Greater Boston launched Amachi, a specialized program that is part of its community-based mentoring services, in response to the growing number of girls who have incarcerated parents. Targeting Greater Boston girls, particularly those from Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan and the South End, Amachi utilizes the faith-based community to recruit mentors for children of prisoners. With assistance from the Boston Ten Point Coalition and the Metropolitan Ministries, Big Sister has partnered with local congregations to encourage caring and committed women from these communities to become Big Sisters.
One of the responsibilities of AmeriCorps*VISTA members serving with Amachi programs that mentor children of prisoners is to help strengthen mentor and mentee relationships by organizing activities for them.
The protocol for organizing the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service was developed by Alysa Murdock, an AmeriCorps*VISTA serving in an Amachi program run by the Big Sister Association of Greater Boston. After researching different events taking place in the area on MLK Day 2006, Alysa decided to join City Year's MLK Day service project. She contacted the service coordinator who suggested that the matches of the Big Sister Association of Greater Boston could participate in making fleece security blankets at St. Kevin's School for Project Linus. (Project Linus distributes the blankets to children at local area hospitals and other children in need of comfort.) Alysa drafted a letter about the event, had it approved by Big Sister management, and then e-mailed it to all Big Sisters. In addition to providing the Big Sisters with details concerning the event, the letter encouraged them to make MLK Day a day of service with their Little Sisters.
Outcome
At the MLK Day of Service, 2006, seven Big Sisters and their respective Little Sisters from the Big Sister Association of Greater Boston attended the event. This turnout exceeded the anticipated two to five responses. The AmeriCorps*VISTA had the opportunity to meet many of the matches while participating in making fleece blankets, and reported that it was exciting to experience the matches working on a service project together to contribute to the community.Posted On
September 27, 2006For More Information
Resources
Visit Amachi for a list of publications relevant to mentoring children of prisoners.Related Practices
Related sites
Big Sister Association of Greater Boston