Yale Undergraduate Prison Project (YUPP)

Mission

Yale Undergraduates at Connecticut Hospice (YUCH) is an organization that provides the unique opportunity to work at a palliative care facility a short drive away from campus in Branford, CT. Volunteers provide a service that is crucial to the Hospice organization and uplifting for the patients. There are a variety of volunteer departments ranging from patient assistance to life stories and art therapy, all of which immerse volunteers in the real patient care experience.

Student Leaders

Mia Gawith – Coordinator/President

Activities

Hear Me, Heal Me Life Story Volunteering Direct Service Life story volunteers will visit patients and/or family and listen to their story, crafting a unique narrative that will be given to whomever the patients and their families wish. Hear Me, Heal Me Life Stories Program Direct Service Mission: We want to immortalize and hear the voices of patients, to empower their lifetime of stories, and to create the human connections essential for hospice care. Volunteers will meet with patients and/or their families upon receiving a request for a life story. They will sit with them and listen to their story, crafting a unique narrative that will then be given to whomever the patients and their families wish. Volunteers may travel to the Connecticut Hospice, other hospice or nursing facilities, or to patient?s homes. YUCH Volunteering Direct Service Yale Undergraduates at Connecticut Hospice (YUCH) is an organization that provides the unique opportunity to work at a palliative care facility a short drive away from campus in Branford, CT. Volunteers provide a service that is crucial to the Hospice organization and uplifting to the patients. There are a variety of volunteer departments ranging from patient assistance to art therapy, which all immerse volunteers in the real patient care experience. Bloom Gala Volunteering Direct Service The Bloom Gala celebrates Barbara Pearce for her fierce dedication to strengthening the Connecticut Hospice and welcomes the new President/CEO of Connecticut Hospice. They asked if we can help with directing and interacting with the patients and their families, as well as any visitors. Hear Me, Heal Me Life Stories Program Direct Service Hospice is inherently a patient-centered art, and many patients have a story they want to tell and remember. This program?s purpose is to immortalize and hear their voices, empower their lifetime of stories, and create the human connections essential to hospice care. Volunteers will visit patients or bereaved families and listen to their stories, writing them up as narratives which can then be shared with the patient?s family and/or healthcare staff. Volunteering at Connecticut Hospice Direct Service Volunteers are crucial for Hospice operations. Although patient assist is the most popular area for volunteers seeking hands-on care, additional opportunities include reception desk, arts, music, compassionate sitters, events, pastoral and spiritual, and pet therapy. YUCH Volunteering Direct Service Volunteers can go to the Connecticut Hospice and interact with patients through a variety of programs, including patient assist, companionship, administrative support, music, and/or life stories. Connecticut Hospice Volunteering Direct Service Volunteers are crucial for Hospice operations. Although patient assist is the most popular area for volunteers seeking hands-on care, additional opportunities include reception desk, arts, music, compassionate sitters, events, pastoral and spiritual, and pet therapy.

How Others Get Involved

Volunteers can email one of the officers listed on our website to be added to our mailing list. We mainly provide our service to patients and family at the Connecticut Hospice.

Mission

The Yale Undergraduate Prison Project (YUPP) is a student-run social justice organization that seeks to challenge the inequities of the criminal justice system through educational programs and advocacy, while learning from and supporting others who share that vision. At the heart of this work sits our dedication to work with formerly and currently incarcerated individuals and their families in their pursuit of educational, personal, and expressive goals. In the political arena, we contribute to social justice campaigns led by education activists and organizations in Connecticut and beyond, always taking deliberate care to center the voices and experiences of those most affected. On campus, we promote dialogue around issues connected to mass incarceration with the hopes of engaging Yale community members in this work.

Activities

Tech/Literacy Sessions at NHFPL Direct Service 2-hour drop sessions hosted at the Public Library bi-weekly. Formerly incarcerated people as well as library patrons are welcome to drop in with tech and resume support questions. Collaboration Financial Literacy Direct Service We plan to partner with Winning Ways CT to host financial literacy workshops and job fair at their site. Reentry Job Fair Direct Service We are attending a reentry job fair to support with extra hands, and reviewing resumes of prospective employees. Volunteer duties include reviewing resumes, answering any questions, and printing edits for new resumes. Public Library Tabling Direct Service Hosting a table at the partner public libraries to provide visitors with more information about resources available in New Haven for expungement. Informational pamphlets about the pardon process and the Clean Slate Act will be handed out and there will be a sign-up sheet available for those who’d like to be directly paired with volunteers. YUPP Reading Circles Advocacy or Activism Series of reading circles on The Other Side of Prospect by Nicholas Dawidoff, a book chronicaling the effects of prisons and policing in New Haven. This will function similar to a book club, with meetings to discuss every other week. Panel with Empowerment Ave Advocacy or Activism Speaker event with currently incarcerated artists, writers. How does art reconstruct the way we understand prisons. Vigil for Marcellus Williams Advocacy or Activism YUPP is holding space for community members to honor the memory of Marcellus Williams. Indigenous Peoples’ Day Film Screening Advocacy or Activism In honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, YUPP will collaborate with NACC-affiliate student organizations for a screening of Out of State, a documentary about Native Hawaiian men held in private prisons in Arizona. Screening will be followed by a discussion on mass incarceration in Indigenous communities. Mauli Ola: Juvenile Justice and Cultural Diversion Programs in Hawai?i Advocacy or Activism Panel event featuring Kawailoa Youth and Family Wellness Center and Kinai ?Eha, two community-based, Hawaiian-led programs aiming to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline through Indigenous cultural education. Partnership with the NACC and IPO. Know Your Rights Teach-Outs Advocacy or Activism Partnering with local community spaces such as Yale Community Kitchen, Dixwell Community House, and more to host know your rights teach outs that spread info about Clean Slate and the Pardon process. Library Documentary Nights Advocacy or Activism Doing additional collaborations with the public libraries to host movie nights featuring documentaries and films about the realities of the criminal justice system, dedicating the beginning of the programming to talk a little bit about the Pardon Program. Toxins Inside: Environmental Racism in Prisons Advocacy or Activism Panel event featuring the Campaign to Fight Toxic Prisons, an activist group of justice-impacted individuals organizing around the linkages between the abolition and enviormental justice movements. Accelerated Rehabilitation Teach-In Advocacy or Activism Teach-in on the accelerated rehabilitation program used in Connecticut courts, especially for litigants arrested in protest demonstrations. This will cover its benefits and drawbacks for community (re)entry in New Haven, along with ideas for future reform. YUPP x YIN x Y4P Palestinian Refugee & Forced Displacement Teach-In Advocacy or Activism A collaborative teach-in about Palestinian refugees & forced displacement. Students are encouraged to share community, discussion, and food from MOTW. A Discussion on Palantir Surveillance w/ Yale Digital Ethics Center Advocacy or Activism A speaker event featuring a professor from Yale’s Digital Ethics Center. Open to all students! Chai and baklava catered from MOTW. Brevo yearly subscription (mailchimp alternative) Advocacy or Activism YUPP has a panlist of 2,000+ including 1,000+ students who are current members, alumni, faculty, or community partners. We send regular email blasts to the panlist to communicate group meetings, events, and fundraising or advocacy campaigns. Since sending multiple emails to 2,000+ recepients through Gmail would get marked as spam, we rely on bulk email sending services. Up until this semester, we used the free MailChimp plan, but they recently raised their price to $45/month for a panlist of our size. We found an alterantive that is only $8.08/month (about $100 per year). We need bulk emailing to communicate with our members and community. YUPP Publishing Group: Roy Bolus Book Launch Event Advocacy or Activism The YUPP Publishing Group is celebrating the launch of a book on education in prisons they edited and designed in collaboration with author Professor Roy Bolus, a formerly incarcerated educator. To share the book with the Yale community, they are hosting a speaker event and Q&A with Professor Bolus. Assessing Transparency in the Department of Corrections Advocacy or Activism Showcasing of a short film surrounding the invasive practice of cavity searches & brutality from correctional officers. Followed by Discussion & Panel over a catered lunch. Closing Guantanamo: A Conversation with a Survivor, Mansoor Adayfi Advocacy or Activism Speaker event with Mansoor Adayfi, a survivor of Guantanamo Bay prison that has dedicated his life to its closure. Conducted virtually, this speaker event will highlight the mechanics of the American prison archipelago, the U.S.’ international carceral system. As We EMERGE: Monologues of the Formerly Incarcerated Movie Screening Advocacy or Activism Yale Undergraduate Prison Project members are invited to watch a documentary featuring one of our partner organizations EMERGE and a dear friend of YUPP, Mr. Shabazz! The screening will be held at Fairfield University (1073 North Benson Road Fairfield, CT 06824) on Tuesday, February 25th at 6:00pm, and it is completely free. “EMERGE Connecticut crewmembers and Quinnipiac University collaborated to magnify the voices integral to our cause.” YUPP members will be there to build community and show our immense support for justice-focused organizations in New Haven! Panel with Office of Inspector General Advocacy or Activism Panel event featuring a representative from the Office of Inspector General to speak on perspectives of criminal legal reform from workers in the DOJ. Stop Solitary CT Teach-In Advocacy or Activism Teach-in with a representative from Stop Solitary CT, focusing on the impacts of solitary confinement in Connecticut prisons and the need for reform. Re-entry Resource Rally with GNHRRT Advocacy or Activism A collaborative event with the Greater New Haven Re-entry Roundtable on the New Haven Green where different CT organizations dedicated to re-entry assistance will hold informational booths to spread awareness about the resources available to CT residents. Dis-Orientation Advocacy or Activism YUPP Dis-Orientation will provide an overview of New Haven’s carceral landscape ? the ongoing presence and effects of prisons and policing in the city we reside in. This event will also introduce attendees to YUPP’s project groups. Solidarity Iftar with Yale Black Muslim Students Association Advocacy or Activism YUPP and YBMSA hosted a Solidarity Iftar to fundraise for incarcerated Muslims and conduct a Know-Your-Rights Training on current deportation efforts at the federal level. YUPP Study Break Social/Cultural/Team-Building Join YUPP (and a few other amazing social justice student organizations) study break with pizza and insomnia cookies! Rideshare Reimbursement from Community Events Social/Cultural/Team-Building YUPP members are encouraged to attend/volunteer at various events hosted by our community partners and local social justice organizations. Examples from last semester, several of which are annual events: the Blossoming Beyond Bars conference hosted by Winning Ways, “As We Emerge: Monologues of the Formerly Incarcerated” documentary showing by EMERGE, CT, Reentry Job Fair in Bridgeport by Career Resources, Inc., etc .

How Others Get Involved

Follow us on Instagram @yaleundergraduateprisonproject or contact celene.bennett@yale.edu, jake.siesel@yale.edu, or joshua.ching@yale.edu for more info!