“I’ve been in prison for 15 years, I have another 10 years to serve. I never allow myself to laugh. I finally am.” —Wyoming Women’s Center, current student
Welcome into the world of On The Inside where we focus on supporting women currently serving time across our country, and soon our world. We offer tools, skills, and practices to build on our innate wellbeing, creativity, and mindfulness. This past week as I facilitated a class inside the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women we were doing our weekly stretch where we take turns leading the class. One woman said, “ Doesn’t it feel so good to just laugh? I haven’t laughed in so long.” I almost burst into tears, instead I laughed with my students and thought about what laughter releases in me. Laughter, the tipping point into sadness and hysteria and joy. Laughter is the thing we often need, yearn for, and fall into. This woman is serving a life sentence and watching her laugh as she contorted her body and the class followed was hysterical. It took us all somewhere else, even for just a few minutes, and then there we were again, back inside a prison classroom.
Every time I show up, the women do too. It is the greatest gift we can offer- our presence and attention.
Later, on the same day, facilitating this time for the Wyoming Women’s Center we focused on sisterhood, reading letters we penned to women in the room about what they really needed to hear. We shared stories of our roots, and the trees and people that ground us. A new student said, “I would always run away and lay under this one tree to escape my parents. I have never found a safety net like this tree.” This week, she will draw that tree and seek out a photo of it from her grandmother who lives near this very tree. Her story made me think about the power of our roots- whether they be people, religion, places, rituals, the things that keep us safe and make us whole. Next to her sat a woman, who said, “ I can’t wait to show you my tree. I spent the entire week, every lockdown, every moment drawing this for you, for us. It has given me great comfort and I’ve already mailed you a copy of it.” She proudly walked to the front of the room, and held her intricate tree up so that I could see it. She stood tall, she smiled wide, and her heart burst open as she turned her tree towards the class for them to see.
When one heart opens in a room, the rest follow.
Like the trees in this room, our work is expanding.
This month, we begin offering our 8 week class series in Missouri at the Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center. We are also meeting with the Department of Corrections in Massachusetts with the hope of offering our 8 week class series virtually and in person with added facilitators. In Massachusetts, our work will be the first in a new women’s unit opening up.
Please help us welcome to the table, Reema Zaman to our Board of Directors. She is already hard at work on all three of our committees, and bringing her warmth and knowledge to our work, as well as her memoir to the women we serve inside. More about Reema here-
Reema Zaman is an award-winning author, essayist, and speaker. Her books include the acclaimed memoir I Am Yours (Amberjack Publishing, 2019) and the forthcoming dystopian novel, Paramita: A Dystopian Matriarchy. I Am Yours was adopted into the curriculum of several Portland high schools through an Innovation Grant from the Oregon Board of Education. Reema’s essays have been published in Vogue, The Guardian, Salon, and many other notable publications. Born in Bangladesh and raised in Thailand, she lives in Portland with her puppy, Fia the Fierce. She was Oregon Literary Arts’ Writer of Color Fellow in 2018.
And if you’ve missed out, our bi-weekly group led by Caroline continues with a focus on serving women with a criminal history. You can learn more about this on our website and on our social media pages.
“I feel like the way life is set up you are never done healing. You heal in parts as life comes up. My daughter is 7 now, she was 2 when I got locked up. This work has shown me that healing is possible.”
-Nebraska Correctional Center for Women, current student
In gratitude,
Nikki Weaver
Founder and Executive Director
On The Inside
“Let me start by saying I love you, I never said it enough, and so I’m saying it now.”
-Nebraska Correctional Center for Women, current student
Thank you for being a growing part of our journey, our failures and our successes as we navigate slow and intentional growth to keep this work fresh, accessible, and necessary.
*Wyoming Women’s Center, alumni class 2022
2023 Outside Class Series OPEN for enrollment-
Our four-class series is a great way to become a part of our work, learn about the class structure, create with us, and build community. Each class occurs over Zoom so you can participate from anywhere. Every class you can expect to: share, create, receive, and learn as we make work that goes into our facilities and work from our inside students is shared with us.
*We only offer our outside class series 4 times a year, these fill up FAST so connect with us to register today. Please confirm which series you would like to join.
Series 1: Wednesdays from 11am-1pm PST/2pm-4pm EST
February 1, 8, 15, and 22.
Series 2: Wednesdays from 11am-1pm PST/2pm-4pm EST
April 5, 12, 19, and 26.
Series 3: Thursdays 12pm-2pm PST/3pm-5pm EST
May 4, 11, 18, and 25.
Series 4: Thursdays 5-7pm PST/8pm-10pm EST
October 5, 12, 19, and 26.
This series is co-led by Caroline Cox, Project Manager at On The Inside, and Nikki Weaver Founder.
Zoom links and instructions are sent out after payment is made. We offer a sliding scale and full scholarships too, all you need to do is connect us. Payment can be made right here. Please connect with us if you would like to join our next class series and specify which four classes you would like to attend. The work builds upon itself so it is essential that you prioritize attending all four sessions. You can join our four week class series, and then continue on in our monthly class by signing up here.
*Wyoming Women’s Center, alumni class 2022
Join us for our monthly gatherings of 2023-
All monthly groups meet from 12-2 pm PT/3 pm-5 pm ET
*Zoom link sent to all those who have participated in our 4-class or 8-class series.
In these classes, we gather and share, create together, move together, and discuss artwork and poetry from our students currently serving time. Your work is also shared inside facilities. It’s a chance to connect and grow with women worldwide.
Announcing our 2023 Monthly Group Gatherings (2 hours)-
**All monthly group meetings are 12 pm-2 pm PT/3 pm-5 pm ET
Saturday, Jan 7 HOPE
Tuesday, Feb 7 LET’S GET SEXY
Thursday, March 2 AGILITY
Tuesday, April 4 TRUTH
Tuesday, May 2 CREATIVITY
Saturday, June 3 JOURNEYS
Thursday, July 6 SHADOW WORK
Tuesday, August 1 LOVE
Sunday, September 3 COURAGE
Monday, October 2 FLEXIBILITY
Thursday, November 2 VALUES
Saturday, December 2 HOPE
We hope to see you in class this year- joins us for four sessions and then move into our monthly group as we deepen the connections, strengthen our creativity, and build long lasting relationships with women inside and outside prison facilities.
*Wyoming Women’s Center, alumni class 2022
Your actions matter. Your words matter. How you show up matters.
Much love and gratitude for your ongoing support,
Nikki Weaver and Caroline Cox
-Founder and Project Manager
OUR MISSION
On The Inside builds a creative connection for incarcerated women, both individually and collectively. We do this by telling our stories, igniting our hearts, and sparking dialogue. Creative connection for a greater good, we create community for women on the inside and outside by breaking down the walls that keep us apart.
The United States houses over 1.3 million incarcerated women.
We aim to change that.
Creativity is what keeps us alive, it is what draws us together. Our stories save us and have the ability to heal us. Healing is both collective and deeply personal. We create shared dialogue by holding a container for women to transform themselves. We do this through creative prompts where each woman has a voice in the room, through exploratory movement, creating a rolodex of emotions to draw from, and boundaries to hold.
We begin.
We create.
We play together.
We share.
We seek closure.
We begin again.
We hold weekly classes to gather in a circle. We create weekly newsletters where women on the outside create work (poetry, art, song) for women on the inside, and the women on the inside do the same. We create living, breathing works of art that move us far beyond the page, beyond the stage, and into a space of embodiment.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dr. Lisa Collins
Karen Pride
Fungai Mubayiwa
Katie Morell
Caroline Cox
Megan Gaffney
Atieno Bird
Dr. Mercy Nyangulu Nyepudzayi
Jazmin Jimenez
Cindy Lone
Tina Packer
Mia Zara
Marie Gonzalez
Beck Wilschefski
Elena Brower
Together, we stretch four continents wide.
Collectively, we are making a difference by creating together.
You are always invited to join our work, join our collective, join our creative expanding circle.
Consider making a NEW gift-
Support our work by sustaining a woman through a monthly contribution right here. Your donation will support the ongoing weekly and monthly work we continue to build in person, and online.
