Spring Freedom Faithify Campaign is a Success!
Thanks for helping us support prison liberation efforts in Illinois! 

Faithify Campaign: Springing Freedom
We are thrilled to announce that our Spring Freedom Faithify campaign reached our $3,000 goal with two days to spare. Thank you to everyone who  helped spread the word with your own posts on Facebook, twitter, Instagram.  This crowd-funding campaign relied on our networks sharing this opportunity to help UUPMI participate in decarceration and release efforts in Illinois. This funding makes it possible for us to financially assist any pen pals who are seeking clemency and need help with fees, supplies, etc. Read this from Cliff at Western:
Being a part of the UUPMI community for years has been such a great experience.  I have felt so much caring support from the outside members in so many ways.  I have drawn moral, emotional and political support from the newsletters, the communication with members, and the networking the Ministry has made possible. The pen pal program has been my favorite part.  My pen pal and I have built such a special and meaningful friendship over the years, one that I value and cherish.  I'm incredibly fortunate to have been invited into this community.
We are grateful and proud to  have raised $3000 to help get people free in Illinois! In addition, contributions will support our advocacy, our outreach, and our congregational and community education. We will make sure you have the opportunity to partner in these opportunities for decarceration and journeying with others toward collective liberation. Please contact us if your organization is working on specific decarceration campaigns or release efforts!
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Illinois made history when Governor Pritzker signed the Pretrial Fairness Act into law on February 21, 2021. January 2022 marks the one year anniversary of the passage of the Pretrial Fairness Act! This was only possible because of you! The first phase of the Pretrial Fairness Act went into effect on January 1, 2022 and has expanded the rights of people on house arrest with electronic monitoring. To learn more about these changes, please tune into a recording of our Pushing Back Against Home Confinement event here. You can also read this blog post the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice wrote about the changes. Make sure you’re following the Coalition to End Money Bond on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay in the loop about the campaign efforts!
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Photo from Coalition to End Money Bond

Prisoner Voting Rights

Follow Chicago Votes for real-time updates and advocacy updates.

B3098/HB4490
​FREE Act
Support Families’ Right to Estate Equity (FREE) Act
SB3098/HB4490
The FREE Act removes language prohibiting people who have served their time and returned
back to society from being able to serve as an executor or administrator of an estate.
Specifically it removes language providing that a person who has been convicted of a felony is not qualified to act as an executor or an administrator. 

Advocating for Elder Parole

The Earned Reentry Bill SB2333 gives people with long-term sentences the opportunity for regular review by the Prisoner Review Board, thus shifting the focus of the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) from warehousing to rehabilitation. Though it did not get to a vote this veto session, we will provide updates about work to do over the upcoming session, so be sure to like our Facebook page or twitter for updates!

UUPMI concerned over COVID-19 and care for those incarcerated 

Read more...
A State-by-State Look at Coronavirus in Prisons
​by The Marshall Project 
::updated daily::
The Marshall Project is collecting data on COVID-19 infections in state and federal prisons. See how the virus has affected correctional facilities where you live.
Read more...
A Letter Unanswered
March 7, 2020

​On the morning of March 7, 2020, UUPMI sent a letter to 
Rob Jeffreys, Acting Director Illinois Department of Corrections 
and Jim Kaitschuk, Executive Director Illinois Sheriffs’ Association.  The letter addresses concerns over how COVID-19 may affect people who work and live in Illinois prisons and jails. 

Read the letter here... ​

Learning together

If you are new to abolition, check out this wonderful resource from Abolition Journal. With six sessions, you can go at your own pace. 

Self-led Learning page lists historic offerings and more to help deepen your knowledge.

Upcoming and Ongoing Events...

Prison Conditions in Illinois

We are working collaboratively with the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) Ambassador of Illinois program in gathering information and listening to our friends and CLF members inside Illinois prisons about their top priority issues so that we can leverage our power to address these harms collaboratively with other organizations.  If your organization or your congregation wants to be more involved, please fill out our contact form!

Past events...

To access a recording of the Legislative Advocacy Training with Restore Justice Illinois Director Jobi Cates, please visit here.

Thank you to all who registered and participated in Abolitionist Theologies: Religious Resistance to Policing and Prisons on August 12, 2020. Catch up on the conversation with this transcript or watch the video below:
8-12-20_abolitionist_theologies_virtual_roundtable_transcript.pdf
File Size: 150 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
Thank you to all who gave so generously to benefit UUANI and UUMPI at the UU Democracy Revival that was held Sunday, 10/25/2020. To catch it later, watch here.

Other Events you should know about

  The COVID-19 Pandemic has highlighted the many needs of those who are recently released or still inside.  Though there are immediate needs that must be addressed, our organization still holds onto to a long-term religious vision where the humanity of all is recognized and liberation/reconciliation is possible for all people.
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Get Involved! For action you can take, visit the Illinois Prison Project, who is keeping a running list of ways we can stay engaged in our vision of liberation in these difficult times. See how we as an organization are staying engaged while sheltering-in-place.

Our Mission

We equip UU's in Illinois to ​transform institutions and support people harmed by the prison industrial complex.  Read More
Use Amazon Smile to easily donate to our good work at UUPMI!
We need your help! We can sustain this ministry only if we have the support of people who care about our shared humanity with people in prison. Your contribution will help fund our half-time minister’s salary, benefits, and travel costs, plus the costs of our education offerings to congregations.

The In Prison Ministry works to create a spiritual space where all people can come as they are and be affirmed in their inherent worth and dignity, no matter their identities or past harm they may have caused. 

The outside work of the UU Prison Ministry focuses on preparing our congregations to become radically welcoming places for formerly incarcerated and convicted people. We embrace the call of Unitarian Universalism to make our congregations accepting of all people.

​The Prison Ministry will also connect Unitarian Universalists to local and state-level policy  initiatives that seek to build a world community of peace, liberty and justice for all.
UU Prison Ministry of Illinois is a 501(c)3 organization, so your contributions are tax-deductible.

​We are funded in part by the Fund for Unitarian Universalist Social Responsibility - and grateful for their support.
​This project is in part funded by the Fund for Unitarian Universalist Social Responsibility.

UUPMI

We equip UU's in Illinois to ​transform institutions and support people harmed by the prison industrial complex.
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