Created in 1978 as a volunteer transportation program assisting low-income families in Richmond, we’ve grown to serve many of Virginia’s state prisons and correctional centers.
History
The mission of Assisting Families of Inmates, Inc. is to help families preserve and strengthen positive relationships with relatives incarcerated in Virginia's state correctional facilities. Through a continuum of direct informational and support services Assisting Families of Inmates helps families cope with incarceration and prepare for release and reunification. Assisting Families of Inmates, Inc. (AFOI) was created in 1978 as a volunteer transportation program designed to assist Richmond area families visiting relatives in state prison. Until then, visiting was impossible for low-income families as most state prisons are located in isolated, rural areas not served by public transportation. The initiative was led by Thomas A. Edmonds of Second Presbyterian Church who was familiar with the needs of prisoners' families from earlier years of volunteering with a similar organization in Florida. Edmonds saw a need in the Richmond community and convinced other downtown area churches to join in by providing much-needed volunteers, personal vehicles and financial support. Within six years the AFOI program was providing visiting day transportation to 15 state prisons, hot meals when family members returned from visiting and supportive outreach services such as support group meetings and referrals to other community service organizations.
Today our services include:
- Monthly visiting-day transportation to many state prisons, correctional centers, work centers and work units.
- Monthly visiting-day transportation to 2 juvenile correctional facilities.
- Video visitation services to six state prisons and correctional centers.
- Information on prison visiting and correctional policies and procedures, including answers to frequently asked questions and dress code regulations.
- Assistance to help families identify and prioritize their needs and goals; resource referrals to other agencies that aid with housing, employment, childcare, etc.
- Volunteers to chaperone children on visits with their incarcerated mothers.
- A program serving children with incarcerated parents, and their caregivers, called the Milk and Cookies (MAC) Children’s Program.
- Consultation with other organizations, including the Department of Corrections, on programming for children impacted by parental incarceration and family reintegration with regards to reentry.
- Collaboration with other community organizations, human service providers, faith-based organizations and local and state government on re entry efforts within the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The Virginia Department of Corrections has previously estimated that 17% of the prison population resided in the Richmond area prior to incarceration. Given that figure, approximately 4,000 families in our community are affected by the incarceration of a family member. Last year Assisting Families of Inmates provided over 3,100 trips to Virginia’s correctional facilities for family members. We also provided thousands of resource referrals for our clients for housing, utilities, food, clothing, employment, education and medical services just to name a few. The overwhelming majority of AFOI clients are African-American women and children residing in the Richmond area. Over 95% of our clients served report annual income levels of less than $15,000.