Voices From Inside Presents: What Our Voices Carry

Voices From Inside Presents: What Our Voices Carry

Saturday, November 2, 2019, 7:00 pm
An original play created by Voices From Inside and local playwright, Trenda Loftin

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On Nov. 2 at 7PM Voices From Inside will perform the original play What Our Voices Carry created in conjunction with local playwright Trenda Loftin. The play aims to encourage audiences to confront the human cost of U.S. incarceration policies, dearth of social and health services, and response to the current opioid crisis. Tickets; $10- $20 sliding scale

The program is supported in part by Mass Humanities, and the Mass Cultural Council

Voices From Inside provides writing workshops for women who are incarcerated, were previously incarcerated , and women in recovery. www.voicesfrominside.org

ABOUT VFI

Since 1999, Voices from Inside (VFI) has been helping women who are currently or formerly incarcerated find their voices, return to their communities with success, and become leaders in their communities through creative writing workshops. In the past sixteen years, VFI has reached over 1600 women in Western Massachusetts. Voices from Inside also offers workshops for girls and women who are at risk for incarceration.

In addition, we bring the women we work with into the community for conversations, presentations and performances so that they can share their writing and interact with the community.

VFI offers ongoing writing workshops using the Amherst Writers and Artists method developed by Pat Schneider and described in her book, Writing Alone and with Others. In VFI writing workshops, participants receive encouragement and support for their writing, gain self-confidence as they strengthen their literacy and communication skills, and begin to imagine new possibilities for themselves.

? VFI also trains previously incarcerated women to become writing group leaders themselves. Many of them have led writing groups in correctional institutions or in community programs for women at risk of incarceration or re-incarceration, providing them with valuable leadership experience and skills.

Voices Carry brings the work of VFI writers to the public through presentations at schools, colleges, houses of worship, and community groups. At Voices Carry events, women read and perform their writing individually and as an ensemble. They have the opportunity to interact with a wide range of people from the community. At the same time, community members gain an understanding of the challenges facing women who have been incarcerated as they work to rebuild their lives.

Special Thanks to Our Sponsors and Underwriters

Australis AquacultureArtisan Beverage CooperativeBenjamin CompanyBerkshire Brewing CompanyCohn and Company Real Estate AgencyCommunity CreditCommon CapitalCommunity Foundation of Western MassachusettsConnecticut River InternistsDean's BeansEasthampton Savings BankFirstLight GDF SueznaGill TavernGoff MediaGreat Falls HarvestGreen River FestivalGreenfield Community CollegeGreenfield Cooperative BankGreenfield Savings BankLootMassachusetts Cultural CouncilMontague WebWorksNortheast SolarPeople's PintRainmaker ConsultingThe RendezvousSolar Store of GreenfieldStobierski and ConnorTold VideoTrue North TransitTurn It Up

Special thanks to the Mass Cultural Council for their vital support this year in the form of a Cultural Sector Recovery Grant for Organizations, as well as a Festivals & Projects Grant. We'd also like to thank the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts for their support in the form of a Flexible Funding grant. We couldn't do this work without you!