Leslye Penelope Visits Women’s Book Club at the DC Jail
In December, the Free Minds Women’s Book Club (WBC) held at the DC Jail hosted a special guest, Leslye Penelope, author of The Monsters We Defy. Penelope is a Maryland native and accomplished writer with 14 published works. She brought her story to life for the women of the book club, sharing the magic and history behind The Monsters We Defy, a historical fantasy novel set in 1920s Washington, D.C.
Read MoreReentry Book Club: Fall Accomplishments from the Free Minds Family
This season we are celebrating the tenacity and mutual support of Free Minds and its members, who have made tremendous achievements despite many challenges this past year. Free Minds members…
Read MoreVernon Brundage Inspires Young Writers During Author Visit at the Youth Services Center
On October 15th, 2024, Vernon Brundage—author of Beyond the Arc—visited the DC Youth Services Center (YSC) to meet with Free Minds members in our youth book club, who had been…
Read MorePrison Book Club: Cultivating Communities of Care
Here at Free Minds, we often speak of the “Free Minds family,” or the network of mutual care and support that members build among themselves and our staff and supporters.…
Read MoreThe Real World of Work: Charles’s Story
To be resilient is to be able to withstand or recover from very difficult conditions. I can’t think of any Free Minds member who has demonstrated more resilience than Charles. At the age of 20, Charles was charged and convicted of a crime he did not commit. Charles is now a leader in our reentry community, who helps to co-facilitate our weekly “Build Up” book club sessions when he’s not working. I recently met up to speak with Charles in a quiet basement lobby of the Martin Luther King DC Public Library, where he has now worked for two years, about how he maintains his resilience in the face of challenges.
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