Dear John,

On Monday, ARC staff and I had the honor to be a part of a truly inspiring event with the NFL's Inspire Change Initiative and fellow justice reform organization, Place4Grace.
 

Over the last few months, we have all worked together to provide 21 children who have incarcerated fathers a day they won’t soon forget! These children from Place4Grace toured the NFL Network Studios; spent time with NFL talent like MJ Acosta-Ruiz, Willie McGinest, Steve Smith, Colleen Wolfe, and Jim Trotter; and were surprised with a special gift from their dads.
 

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With the help of the California Department of Corrections, these fathers were able to record messages of love, hope, and encouragement for their children to see. After some coaching from NFL’s on-air talent, these children then went into NFL Studios and were able to record their own messages for their dads. It was a moving and meaningful day, and I'm grateful that ARC was able to be involved.

In partnership with Cisco, NFL's Inspire Change initiative is working to bridge the digital divide for many underserved LA youth. This partnership led to our sponsors at Cisco and Compudopt distributing computers, WiFi hotspots, tablets and more to these children. These generous tools will serve to improve learning at home, while simultaneously help these children connect with their parents who are far away and ease the burden of family separation.

We can’t thank the NFL and Cisco enough for their continued work in building up our communities. Ending mass incarceration means reuniting families, and we're proud to be doing this important work alongside Place4Grace.

Go Rams!
Sam Lewis
Executive Director