A stilt-legged lookout tower that harbors uniformed guards and a treeless yard encased by a chain-link, barbed-wire-laced fence is not the typical setting for a Girl Scout troop meeting. But none of the 18 members of troop 821 seem to care — they’re just excited to be sharing a part of their childhood with their mothers, who happen to be inmates at Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women (JTP) in Wetumpka.
This unique, one-year-old Scout troop, whose members range in age from 7 to 12, was made possible because of the diligent efforts of Aid for Inmate Mothers (AIM), a nonprofit organization whose sole purpose is to assist incarcerated women in Alabama. AIM is comprised of more than 100 statewide volunteers who have worked relentlessly for the past 13 years to bring hope, happiness and dignity to Alabama’s 1,000-plus female inmates. AIM, one of only a dozen such programs in the country, caters to the needs of female prisoners who have problems that are seldom found within the male inmate population.
For instance, because of the high percentage of single mother who are incarcerated, the family unit — more often than not — is disrupted and children are displaced to extended family members or foster care. This situation is less likely to occur if the father is imprisoned. The resettling of the mother’s children into the care of others often results in limited visitation with her children — mainly due to transportation challenges.
Realizing this was a prevalent issue for JTP inmates, AIM took on the responsibility of coordinating statewide transportation arrangements through the volunteer efforts of churches who provided vans and drivers for a once-a-month visitation on the grounds of JTP. The first trip included 15 children. Now, with more than 1,000 trips logged to date, an average of 125 children from across the state travel each month to Wetumpka to see their mothers. AIM provides a picnic lunch served in the yard area around the chapel where children and mothers can visit and play with donated toys.
AIM also provides birthday presents for the mothers whose children celebrate birthdays during that month.
According to AIM’s executive director Carol Potak, these monthly visits are the only way many inmates are able to see their children. “So many times the grandmother is the custodian of the children and she may have children of her own still living with her. The cost and burden of traveling a long distance and having a reliable transportation make it difficult — if not impossible — for many relatives to bring these children for visitation,” she said. After the visitation, AIM holds a mothers’ forum for the inmates to discuss their visit and any issues relating to their children.
Another successful program started two years ago and one that is hugely popular with mothers and children alike is the storybook project.
The premise is simple. Once a month a group of AIM volunteers spend half a day with inmate mothers and grandmothers who have signed up to participate in the project. They are allowed to choose an age-appropriate book for their child and with the assistance of the AIM volunteer, they read the book into the recorder, interjecting page-turning directions, a brief greeting and a closing.
“Mommy misses you and loves you very much,” says the mother of two daughters 7 and 9, as she makes a recording. “I’m going to read you a book to let you know that I love you.” She then begins a book about a child’s new shoes, her visit to grandma’s and the kindness of others.
After the session, AIM personnel take the books and the tapes and mail them to the children.
Early in the program AIM developed an inmate board that consists of a representative from each prison dorm. The board meets once a month and makes decision about visits and activities on behalf of all of the prison’s 650-plus mothers.
As on 37-year-old inmate who has served four years of a 20-year manslaughter sentence put it, “I don’t know what I would have done without the help and support of AIM,” she said.
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