Marriage is hard as it is. It takes work to make it work. Being married to a partner who is incarcerated comes with a whole nother set of challenges. Often I am punished for loving a man who is incarcerated. At every turn, we are met with obstacles and our marriage is not even recognized as being real or of value by numerous naysayers. There are many who love someone who is incarcerated, but who live in societal shame.
www.speakyattruth.org was borne out of a desire to dispel this shame and encourage the family members of incarcerated men, women, and children to speak their truth, out loud, free from degradation, for the world to hear. Each of us are activists in our right as we come up against one of the greates societal ills of our time -- mass incarceration.
The Speak Ya Truth organization provides links to resources for everything from pro bono criminal advocates to food pantries in an effort to meet the needs of those of us who are imprisoned along with our loved ones -- on the outside.


FAMILY RESOURCES




Long Island Food Not Bombs is about community members taking care of the community - we are solidarity not charity. We can do what we do because scarcity is a lie, FOOD DOES GROW ON TREES! People go hungry in our communities because of waste and greed; and we're here to help put a stop to that.
Our client-choice food pantry allows low-income New Yorkers to select fresh produce and packaged food items themselves in a supermarket-style setting — helping provide food for more than 40,000 meals a month.
The food pantry is open Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 11:00 am - 3:30 pm, and Wednesdays from 1:00 - 8:00 pm.

ADDITIONAL FAMILY RESOURCES
Excellence in Success is a company designed to give a platform to honor the unsung heroes, the altruistic one, future leaders and role models in our communities across the country."
CLICC (Connecting through Literacy: Incarcerated Parents, their Children and Caregivers) uses literacy and mentoring to strengthen relationships between incarcerated parents and their children in Connecticut.
On his second father's day since the birth of my daughter Luna, John Legend shares his feelings the importance of being present in his daughter's life and reflects on the fact that so many don't have that opportunity. Between 1980 and 2012 the number of children of incarcerated parents has increased five-fold. Today we share with you messages from children of incarcerated parents who have to celebrate father's day apart from the ones they love. #endmassincarceration
Please visit http://www.WeGotUsNow.com to learn get involved.
Please visit http://www.LetsFreeAmerica.com to learn more about the needed criminal justice reform in America.
#FREEAMERICA