Like many southern states, Alabama has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. But instead of building a just recovery, Alabama's Governor has called a session to debate a bill that would use pandemic relief funds to build three new prisons.

Alabama’s prison system is historically harmful and currently facing a Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit for human rights violations. Using American Rescue Plan money, aka pandemic relief money, to expand Alabama’s prisons, instead of helping working families recover from the global health crisis, is unacceptable.

Luckily, local organizers are fighting back with everything they’ve got.

Let’s show them our solidarity. Take action now by sending a letter to the Biden Administration and Congress telling them “Prison Construction is Not Covid Relief.”

Communities Not Prisons is an Alabama-led coalition of organizers and community groups fighting for a future without mass incarceration. They are calling on the federal government to issue guidance making it crystal clear that NO federal relief funds can be spent building prisons. Congress is already getting involved, but organizers on the ground are asking us to keep the pressure on.

Groundwork Project is committed to supporting organizers on the frontlines in our partner states Mississippi, West Virginia, and Alabama. Join us by contacting your representatives to tell them that pandemic relief funds should be used to support families, not mass incarceration.

In solidarity,

Team Groundwork

P.S. We want to thank everyone who contributed to Groundwork this week. Thanks to this community, we hit our fundraising goal and can funnel that money to organizers fighting for a progressive future!