Dear Friends,

On Wednesday, April 9, NRCAT hosted the “How to Become a Lifeline” webinar in partnership with Solitary Watch. We heard powerful insights about the experience of participating in the Lifelines to Solitary national pen pal program developed by Solitary Watch from the program’s founder and coordinator, Marlies Talay, as well as from Rev. Wilma Reichard, UCC Minister and Lifelines pen pal since 2017.

Johnny Perez, Director of the NRCAT U.S. Prisons Program, described how receiving mail in solitary confinement is “hope with a stamp on it” and reminded us that corresponding with those inside solitary confinement is “a sacred act of solidarity that says, ‘yes, you are not alone, you are not forgotten.’”

We invite you to view the full webinar recording, which is now available on the NRCAT YouTube channel, and to share it with others in your faith community who may also be interested in participating in the Lifelines to Solitary program. To take the next step in becoming a “Lifeline” pen pal, you may write to Marlies Talay, project coordinator of Lifelines to Solitary at [email protected]. Be sure to indicate that you viewed the NRCAT Lifelines webinar and are interested in becoming a pen pal. Marlies will share the program guidelines with you and provide you with next steps for getting started.

Lastly, we invite you to Save the Date! On Wednesday, June 18th NRCAT will host our next “how to” webinar for faith advocates, “How To Shine Your Light.” In this webinar you will learn about how your faith community can partner with NRCAT to lead public witness vigils on the 23rd of each month to draw attention to the estimated 122,00 people who are held for 23 hours a day in solitary confinement in U.S. prisons and jails. This webinar will feature leaders of WISDOM, a Wisconsin network of faith-based organizations, whose members have been leading these vigils as they work for racial and economic justice. To help spread the word about the upcoming June 18 webinar with your faith community here is the public registration link for sharing: https://bit.ly/June18-2025Webinar

In community,
Laura Markle Downton, M.Div.
NRCAT Director, Faith and Community Engagement