John, jail is not where you send sick people to get better.

About 30% of the jail population in Los Angeles county has a mental health diagnosis or are housed in mental health housing units. That’s over 5,500 people suffering in cages without the proper healthcare that they need.

This past week, we were able to pass Yes on R in LA with the support of people like you. Yes on R will increase access to mental healthcare and drug treatment services for people who are incarcerated in LA jails.

This is just the first step in reforming our broken prison system and how we care for mental health and substance abuse in our country. We need you to continue to invest in our movement to take apart the mass incarceration machine that punishes mental illness instead of treating it.

Can you chip in today to ensure we have the funds to bring this fight to the rest of the county?

Contribute $5

The consequences of being cramped into these jail cells can be worse mental health and even death. Mental illness cannot be helped by caging a person who is suffering. 60% of those individuals with mental health diagnoses in LA county jails can be safely diverted into healthcare programs.

My brother is one of the many people who, when struggling with mental illness, deserved care, dignity, and healing – but instead were given harm, neglect, and criminalization.

Our current system isn’t the system that we have to live with. I challenge all of us to imagine a world that pushes forth care and healing – and eliminates punishment.

This ballot measure can be replicated in counties and districts across the nation, but we need the resources to continue to advocate and push for change.

Chip in today so that we have the funds we need to bring reform policies like Yes on R to criminal justice systems around our country.

We will make progress, one county and district at a time.

Patrisse Cullors

Freedom fighter, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, founder and chair of Yes on R, and California Director for Real Justice