Twelve years ago I approached the idea of taking a writing program inside Vermont’s women’s prison, based on my feminist-leaning creative writing project in the greater Burlington community. Support and enthusiasm – from the women themselves to prison administrators to community organizations – has only continued all these years later.

Deeply imprinted on my heart are the faces and words of hundreds of women who sat with us weekly for two-and-a-half hours year-round. I can still envision the scene: pens poised above sheets of paper waiting to be filled with their dreams, their regrets, their challenges, their determination to learn and to grow beyond their current situation. The thread of continuity was our regular presence, as well as our insistence on mutual respect and honesty. I will always remember the women’s fierce loyalty to our writing evenings, our practices and the shared need for a lifeline that writing provided to so many over the years.

Indeed, writinginsideVT has been called a lifeline by a number of our writers. This legacy is apparent in those who have gone on, outside, to write; those who continue to keep in touch; and those whose words appear in the compilation “LifeLines: Re-Writing Lives from Inside Out.” Intended as a starting point for discussion of the major and pervasive issues facing incarcerated women, “LifeLines” has just been re-released. It is my fondest hope that it will be read and discussed by educators, policy makers, criminal and social justice advocates and reformers of all kinds. That it will provide significant input to meaningful discussion and policy-making. That the women whose struggles are openly shared within those pages will live to know their words mattered – not only to them, and to us, but to the wider world as well.

With the re-release of “LifeLines” our program is also in transition. writinginsideVT, like many programs, has changed due to the pandemic, staffing changes, and prison policy. As a result, our work has moved, under the able leadership of Kassie Tibbott, Esq. to a more external focus on advocacy and legislative reform. What we know from our years inside is that the same issues of poverty, lack of education and abuse of all kinds bring women inside – again and again – and that changes on the outside are needed to solve these problems at the source.

The stories are heartbreakingly similar year to year. In this way, “LifeLines: Re-Writing Lives from Inside Out” remains as relevant today as when the writings were first penned. What must NOT remain the same is the system that perpetuates the need for such writings. And so we continue to collect and to share stories of our dedicated writers; to make the case for reform; and to urge all of us to work tirelessly toward the changes we know are long overdue. We thank you for your continued support.

-Sarah W. Bartlett

As promised, here is more from the UVM students who are, this week, starting their four-week pop-up venture on behalf of writinginsideVT.

They very kindly shared their Business Plan with me and gave permission to share it here. Excerpts follow:

Company Description
Brewing Empowerment is comprised of 10 UVM students who are creating a pop-up social enterprise. Our main goal is to make a profit through selling coffee and stickers to donate to “Writing Inside Vermont.” This non-profit works with women who are incarcerated in Vermont and gives them an outlet to express themselves through poetry and stories. We chose this group because we feel their message is powerful and one that needs to be shared. Often when people are incarcerated they become dehumanized and lose a sense of who they are. What brought our group together was that we all had an interest in gender equality and empowering women. This non-profit aligns with our groups goals of empowering these women. The name of our group not only goes with what we are selling but it goes with our main message. We want to empower these women by sharing their stories and their past experiences to make other UVM students and faculty members open their eyes and hearts and not make anybody feel they don’t matter, regardless of their situation.

 

Executive Summary
Brewing Empowerment is our pop-up social enterprise. We will be selling coffee and stickers, to donate our profits to “Writing Inside Vermont.” This non-profit works with women who are incarcerated in Vermont and provides them an outlet for their voices and words to be heard. Our group not only wants to donate to this non-profit but we want them to be known throughout campus for years to come. This is why we chose to sell stickers which will last beyond this pop-up. Our target audience will be students, professors and friends who want to spread awareness of the amazing work this non-profit does.  

Mission Statement
Brewing Empowerment is dedicated to spreading the words of these powerful women whose voices deserve to be heard. Often women behind bars are not given the validation that they matter or that they even exist. We are working to remove this stigma and echo their words throughout UVM’s campus.

Product Description:
Brewing Empowerment will be selling both coffee and stickers. Students on the University of Vermont campus are constantly buying and drinking coffee to fuel them through their long days and hefty amounts of work. With that said, Brewing Empowerment will sell great quality coffee at a reasonably low price outside the Bailey/Howe Library in hopes of attracting the business of hustling, working students. Our coffee cups will have quotes from the women’s poetry on them, to achieve our mission to remove the stigma from incarcerated women.Fortunately our group received kind donations from businesses scattered throughout the Burlington area, so we are able to kickstart our business at almost no cost. Hannaford Supermarket supplied us with a $20 gift card in which we will purchase coffee grinds and cups. Similarly, City Market was generous enough to donate a $20 gift card with which we will obtain cream, milk, and sugar. Lastly, Sodexo has agreed to supply us with holders(creamers) for cream and milk, endless ice, and a tub/bucket to hold the ice. With all that said we will charge $2 per cup of coffee.

In addition to coffee we will be selling stickers. Students around the University of Vermont campus love collecting stickers and displaying them on their reusable water bottles or laptops. We will capitalize on this trend and sell stickers alongside coffee. The stickers will include quotes from and art drawn by women involved in the Writing Inside Vermont program. With the $10 allotted to our group we will purchase sticker paper from Amazon and print out designs with the art and poetry incorporated. These stickers will then be sold for $2.