Las Vegas-based group offers support to prisoners’ relatives

When Damarys Alicea’s grandson was sentenced to 13 years successful prison, nary 1 told her however to prepare.

She didn’t cognize however to navigate unreliable communication, traveling for visits, oregon sending wealth for her grandson to bargain food. But her grandson had galore years up astatine Valley State Prison successful California, truthful she acceptable retired to larn immoderate she could astir being the loved 1 of a prisoner.

“I had nary idea. It was a daze to each of america however hard it is to person a household subordinate inside,” Alicea said during a December interview.

When Alicea moved to Las Vegas, her hunt for a enactment radical led her to Prison Families Alliance. Unlike prisoner-rights advocacy organizations, the nonprofit offers enactment to prisoners’ families, said Julia Lazareck, the organization’s president.

“There’s a batch of radical retired determination who haven’t experienced anybody being incarcerated,” Lazareck said. “So wherever bash they go? Who bash they speech to? There’s not a batch of accusation for people, and a batch of times they consciousness alone.”

‘A full caller world’

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the enactment hosted predominant workshops and in-person meetings for prisoners’ families. Instead of going inactive erstwhile shutdown orders took effect, the group’s rank expanded with online meetings, Lazareck said.

The organization, which had been called the Friends and Families of Incarcerated Persons for astir 20 years, changed its sanction successful September to bespeak a increasing radical of families they service extracurricular Nevada, Lazareck said.

Its website covers topics specified arsenic what to bring portion visiting situation and however to nonstop wealth oregon message to a prisoner. Online meetings hosted by Prison Families Alliance scope from wide enactment to groups for relatives of prisoners with intelligence illness.

“The healthier the household and friends are connected the outside, the amended they tin enactment their loved 1 who’s incarcerated,” Lazareck said. “So erstwhile they travel out, they tin beryllium contributing citizens of society.”

Lazareck said she became progressive successful Prison Families Alliance portion her member was incarcerated successful Florida. After her member died successful situation 9 years agone from hepatitis C, Lazareck launched herself into helping different families, penning a publication and starting a podcast called “Prison: The Hidden Sentence.”

“My happening is truly that cipher should spell done this alone,” she said. “It’s similar a full caller satellite that radical don’t realize, and if you’ve ne'er been done it, you don’t cognize what to do.”

Encouragement from the outside

Lazareck said families of prisoners request adjacent much enactment during vacation months, particularly successful situations wherever the idiosyncratic incarcerated was the family’s main root of income. Last year, the enactment delivered meals and toys to families, and this twelvemonth they sent acquisition certificates for radical to spend a vacation meal.

“The lack for maine is the worst,” Alicea said. “Because you tin ne'er get backmost that time.”

Like Alicea, Christine Essex said the missing spot astatine the array during holidays and peculiar occasions is the hardest portion of having a loved 1 successful prison.

Her lad is incarcerated astatine the Stewart Conservation Camp southbound of Carson City, wherever he’s halfway done a three-year sentence.

Essex said she photographs each household lawsuit now, from funerals to vacation gatherings.

‘When helium does travel out, he’ll inactive consciousness similar helium was a portion of it,” she said.

Attending Prison Families Alliance meetings helped Essex larn however to advocator for her son, she said. The radical helps thatch families astir the antithetic programs offered for prisoners, who mightiness not cognize what to bash portion connected the inside.

“Once the strategy takes them, they’re not ours anymore, there’s thing we tin do,” Essex said. “So we person to beryllium capable to springiness them the resources, the answers and the encouragement from our side.”

Both Essex and Alicea said different families successful their concern should support successful connection with their loved ones and speech to them astir beingness connected the extracurricular portion they are incarcerated. Prisoners with stronger connections to their families person an easier clip reintegrating erstwhile they are released, Lazareck said.

“There’s not a batch that we tin do, (so) conscionable marque definite that we’re giving them emotion and prayer,” Essex said. “Because we bash marque a quality for their lives, arsenic they bash for ours.”

Contact Katelyn Newberg astatine knewberg@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg connected Twitter.