Dear ,

My colleague, VICPP Criminal Justice Reform Organizer Salim Khalfani, and I heard about incarcerated people going hungry at the Lawrenceville Correctional Center, a state prison in Brunswick County. We were shocked when we heard about this tragic situation during the General Assembly and then proceeded to research more about the situation over the summer with the help of a Master of Social Work intern and a religious factfinding delegation. 

Later this week, we will be releasing a report jointly with the Northern Virginia-based nonprofit, Social Action Linking Together (SALT), about the situation and our recommendations. We will be posting the full report on THIS PAGE. Stay tuned. 

The Lawrenceville Correctional Center is the Commonwealth’s only for-profit prison. It is clear that The GEO Group, which runs it, makes its profits by shortchanging those who are incarcerated, paying low wages, understaffing, and providing inadequate training to employees. Low staffing levels of poorly paid and untrained staff create a dangerous situation for both workers and those incarcerated. The GEO Group’s contract with the Virginia Department of Corrections expires next summer. So now is the perfect time to prepare for a change.

VICPP recommends that: 

1.     The Department of Corrections take over management of the Lawrenceville Correctional Center. 

2.     Current employees are retrained and rehired, if possible. 

3.     The General Assembly allocates adequate funds for the Department of Corrections to manage the prison safely.

Join us in encouraging the Department of Corrections to reclaim management of the Lawrenceville Correctional Center state prison by sending an email to Harold Clarke, Director of the Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC). CLICK HERE to email VDOC. 

Profits should not be made off of the backs of people who are incarcerated or prison workers. Let’s stop this practice in Virginia. 

Sincerely,

Kim Bobo
Executive Director 

VICPP and the PUSH maternal health campaign invites you to join us in the observance of October as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month by holding a prayer vigil in support of the International Wave of Light, observed on Saturday, October 15. You can gather a few members of your congregation or campus, ministry or group, or family or neighborhood to offer prayers on Saturday, October 15 or Sunday, October 16 on the grounds of your house of worship, school, or neighborhood or outside your office or home. Invite friends, loved ones, advocates, and allies to illuminate your remembrance of babies gone too soon, and in support of their families.

For details on how to participate in the Wave of Light, click on the button below for a one-page action guide. Don’t forget to take pictures of your gathering or social media post and send to VICPP Health Equity Program Manager Dora Muhammad at dora@virginiainterfaithcenter.org so we may acknowledge your participation and support!

The national Election Protection program is managed in our state by the Virginia Civic Engagement Table (VCET). Volunteer roles for the General Election in November are now available, each with a required training session. The training session is designed to give you tools and resources you will need, prepare you for what to expect, and run through a number of practice scenarios. Click on the buttons below to register for the training(s) you want. For more information, please contact Nick Gothard at: nick@engageva.org

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) advocates joined VICPP Health Equity Program Manager Dora Muhammad for a legislative visit with Del. Chris Head (R) on Friday, September 30. Rev. Kelly Bayer Derrick, Assistant to the Bishop and his constituent, shared why advocating to eliminate racial disparities in maternal health was important to her as an act of proclaiming the Gospel. She also shared her birthing experience of initially being dismissed but eventually listened to -- a respectful consideration that Black women are not receiving.  

ELCA Young Adult Committee Chair Lily Harmison, a Roanoke College junior majoring in public health as a statistician with a passion for maternal health, shared her pursuit to study the implications of raw data she analyzed. The data showed infants born to Black mothers and White fathers die at higher rates than those born to White mothers and Black fathers, a clear indication that the racial disparities in infant mortality are not physiological.  

Del. Head was the chief co-patron of our implicit bias training bill during the 2021 General Assembly session and has committed to working on the language of the bill with other stakeholders and championing it again in next year’s session.

Virginia legislators must support better birth outcomes by addressing issues related to access, bias, and coverage—the ABCs of maternal death. Click the button below to join your voice to make a difference in lives of women and children. Sign and share this petition!

VICPP is training people to send their friends and family members texts about registering and voting. If you are tech savvy, you can download the phone app, Impactive, and enter the VICPP campaign code, which is 206173. If you’d like help with setting up and using the app, VICPP is conducting Impactive training sessions every Thursday evening at 6 p.m. from now till the elections. Click the button below to sign up for tomorrow’s training, or pick a date that works better for your calendar!  

Share this easy-to-remember registration link with your congregation, campus, and community: tinyurl.com/vicpp-impactive

• Northern Virginia, Monday, October 10, 7:30 p.m. 
• Henrico & Greater Richmond Metro, Monday, October 17, 6 p.m.
  
• Greater Prince William, Wednesday, October 19, 12 p.m.
  
• Hampton Roads, Monday, October 24, 6 p.m.
  
• James River, Wednesday, October 26, 12 p.m.
  
• New River Valley, Tuesday, November 1, 12 p.m.
   
  Click the button below to check out our upcoming events list on our website for details and links to RSVP or register!

For a more comprehensive list of upcoming events, please click the button below to check out the VICPP Events webpage.  

Early voting in-person at local registrar offices in Virginia began a couple Fridays ago, 45 days before the November 8 General Elections. The Saturday before Election Day, November 5, will be the last day to vote early in-person. You do not need to have a reason or fill out an application to vote early in-person. However, you must provide your name, address, and an acceptable form of ID or sign an ID Confirmation Statement. Visit elections.virginia.gov for more information.