"Receiving mail from them meant the world to me… it was proof that people in the free world were hearing my voice without judgment. It became an outlet during times of seclusion, sadness, and loneliness." - Y, PenPal Correspondent & Inmate

Y spent more than a decade incarcerated. During that time, letters from outside kept him connected to the world.

What Y describes does not happen on its own.

Someone has to coordinate the pen pal matches, train the volunteers, and manage the correspondence. And when a letter reveals an urgent issue, follow up with prison officials.

That someone is IAHR. And your gift is what makes it possible.

Because of your support, IAHR has helped change the laws governing what happens inside those walls.

Maryland now has an independent Correctional Ombudsman with the power to make unannounced prison visits and investigate complaints. Virginia passed a law requiring a minimum of four hours of daily time outside a cell. The use of attack dogs against incarcerated people (exposed through letters sent directly to IAHR from inside Virginia's maximum security prisons) was restricted by bipartisan legislation.

Real hours of daylight. Real protections. Real people with somewhere to turn.

So far this year, your support has made it possible for IAHR to:

✔ Provide correspondence and advocacy support to more than 600 incarcerated individuals

✔ Mobilize hundreds of directly impacted individuals, faith leaders, students, and community members to testify and meet with legislators in Virginia and Maryland

✔ Deliver survivor-led advocacy trainings and public education across the DMV region

This year, the reform bills we fought for may not have passed. But the work did not stop.

Legislative sessions end. The organizing that makes reform possible does not.

The coalition relationships being sustained today will determine who introduces the next bill. The letters arriving this week are building the documented record that will drive the next round of testimony. The survivors being trained right now will be standing at the microphone when the next hearing opens.

IAHR's overhead is under 5% of our total budget. Every dollar goes directly to the work.

• $50 covers a month of postage for IAHR's prison correspondence program
• $100 funds one advocacy training that prepares a survivor of solitary confinement to testify before a legislative committee
• $250 sustains a month of program coordination — staff time that keeps correspondence running, grievances followed up on, and coalition partners engaged
• $500 supports the coalition-building and organizing between sessions that make the next reform bill possible

We need you to stay in this with us for what comes next.

Make your gift today!