November 2020 Newsletter: Fall into Connection!
What a year 2020 continues to be! "Pivoting" has been a key theme for Realness Project over these last long months - just as it's been for many people and organizations around the world.
We had a robust start to the new year, delivering the ART of Being Human 2-day workshop to an additional 110 inmates in the first two months. Then on March 12, as we drove home from delivering the course, we received news that seemed increasingly inevitable in light of Covid’s rapid spread: prisons in Colorado were closing their doors to any visitors and canceling all programming for the foreseeable future, including ours.
Our first pivot was to adapt our flagship course to an online version through Zoom. However, the day before we were supposed to initiate the first Zoom course in Centennial, it too was cancelled as new regulations prohibited inmates from gathering together in the same room. Instead, they were quarantined to their cells, with very minimal movement or interaction - similar to the conditions of solitary confinement. Prison, which can be a lonely and isolating place in the best of times, took a sharp turn for the worse for so many.
We received a request from a correctional staff member concerned about the psychological impact of the pandemic’s isolating conditions on inmates. She asked if we would produce a workbook based on the tools and practices in our 2-day course and specifically tailor it for the current conditions (including specific language, case studies and images for that population) to help inmates feel less alone. So we pivoted again and focused on the creation and distribution of workbooks to help inmates find at least a little more sense of ease and hope.
We have received wonderful feedback from our test run of the workbook we’ve named "Finding Ease In Isolation". One example from a person serving time at Fremont Correctional Facility:
"The workbook was an eye opener for me, for awareness and change. The exercises were simple yet deep. With prison workbooks, they can come across as corny, by trying too hard. This (workbook) is something that makes you want to dig deeper and go back and re-do some exercises...I truly believe this workbook could change the culture of DOC in Colorado as well as across the world. Which then transfers to the cities we come from and the people we come in contact with. I feel this knowledge I now hold would have saved my marriage."
We are avidly working to get more workbooks to as many people serving time in prison right now. To enable this, we have launched a new crowdfunding campaign to raise the funds needed to get the "Finding Ease in Isolation" workbooks into the hands of at least 2,500 inmates.
The campaign features a 2 minute video about the current situation and donation tiers with gifts at each level. We would greatly appreciate your help in reaching our goal by spreading the word about this campaign with your friends and networks! And if you are in a position to offer something financially - any amount whatsoever - that would be greatly appreciated.
We can’t thank you enough for your continued dedication and support of Realness Project and the incarcerated men and women who directly benefit from all that you do to help us in our mission. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
In Other News
We’ve Rebranded!
It’s now official: we have changed our name from Authentic Relating International to Realness Project. The decision to rebrand came as we recognized that for many in the correctional system there was no prior reference point to authentic relating and, because of that, our name sometimes seemed to inhibit rather than facilitate initial connection.
We also want to expand our work to wider demographics that include police officers, prison guards, gang members, and families of those incarcerated, as well as victims of crime, veterans and students. We believe our new brand will resonate more widely, while still encompassing the underlying values of authentic relating, which is and will remain the foundation of our work.
RP Community Connection Calls (RPCCC)
We are excited to begin offering monthly virtual gatherings to honor you, our friends and supporters, and to create opportunities for you to see some of the fruits of your support. We will feature speakers who are involved with justice reform, RP Course Leaders, and formerly incarcerated people who will speak about their experiences with our program in prison and how they have applied Authentic Relating practices to better their lives.
Speakers will also include prison staff who have done our programs with inmates or in staff trainings, as well as RP course leaders who have rich stories to share from delivering our programs in prisons. We’ll be closing the call with Authentic Relating practices to allow you to experience deeper connection and get a taste of what we offer in our prison programs. The next call is coming up soon on November 18 and then again on December 16. Please feel free to invite others to learn about what we're doing. Click here to register!
New Empathy Classes!
In September, our contacts in the Boulder County DA’s Restorative Justice (DARJ) program expressed a need for a Victim Empathy Course. We quickly responded with a proposal for a virtual empathy class that was well received by decision makers in the D.A.’s office. On December 3rd, we will offer the first class free, as a demo for RJ and other justice leaders across Colorado and beyond. The hope is that there will be enough demand to justify offering it on a monthly or bi-monthly basis to justice involved people. Eventually we hope to expand the program nationally, and perhaps even internationally. Let us know if you'd like more information about this offering!
Expanding Empathy Classes
In today's challenging social climate, many people have cut off relationships with colleagues, neighbors, friends and even family members. Why? There are many reasons, but consistently we hear that "it's just too hard" or that they don't feel like they have the skills or the words to remain in relationship with others who have opposing views. This can be very painful and it's becoming an epidemic. Realness Project is here to help. We are offering a new class called Expanding Empathy. If you have a group in mind that could benefit from learning new skills to create more connection and bridge the divides, please reach out to us to learn more.
Support Realness Project through Amazon Smile Purchases
Did you know that when you buy from Amazon you can effortlessly support Realness Project with each purchase? We are registered as a charity with Amazon Smile, which means that Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of all your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to Realness Project at no additional cost to you. You just need to purchase through smile.amazon.com every time. To set it up, simply click this link and Amazon will take care of the rest.
Give the gift of greater human connection when you give to your loved ones this holiday season!
Choose Realness Project for smile.amazon.com purchases
Please help us deliver our workbook into the hands of 25,000 Inmates. Click Here To Donate!