Photo credit: Chicago Community Bond Fund

Every year, Illinois incarcerates over 250,000 people who are awaiting trial. None of these people have been convicted of a crime, and most are jailed simply because they can’t afford to pay a money bond. Pretrial incarceration is hurting communities across our state.

​Please call in today and for release of folx in Cook County jail. A reminder that of the 250,000 people locked up in Illinois jails, 90% are there PRE-TRIAL because they can't afford bond. Those numbers are bad enough, but now with COVID-19 numbers rising, and seven people have died on COVD19 in Cook County jail, we can make calls to save lives.

Sheriff’s Office
Phone: (312) 603-6444
Email: CCSO@cookcountyil.gov
“Hi, my name is ______ and I live in _________. I’m calling to demand that the Cook County Sheriff’s Office take steps to dramatically lower the number of people in jail in response to COVID-19 and ensure that anyone in his custody is able to practice social distancing.”
Office of the Chief Judge
Phone: (312) 603-6000
Email: timothy.evans@cookcountyil.gov
“Hi, my name is ______ and I live in _________. I’m calling to demand that the Cook County Chief Judge take steps to dramatically lower the number of people in jail in response to COVID-19. This means facilitating bond review hearings for people currently in jail and instructing judges not to admit new people to the jail.”

Read more from our friends at the Chicago Community Bond Fund.

UUPMI concerned over COVID-19 and care for those incarcerated 

CALL TO ACTION!
The Illinois Department of Corrections is not conducting enough Covid-19 tests to provide an accurate count of people who are ill. Even with this underestimate, an alarming number of our friends inside are infected. Everyone is living in intolerable conditions where they cannot take the advised precautions to protect themselves from the virus. As of August 15, 261 people in Stateville, 93 at East Moline and 72 women at Logan are reported to have Covid-19, and we know that far more people in these prisons were exposed and are being held in quarantine. Of the 602 reported cases of people in custody with Covid-19 since March, just 365 are listed as recovered. PLEASE call Governor Pritzker (217-782-0244) and Lt. Governor Stratton (217-558-3085) and ask them to release people from IDOC. By focusing on older people (who almost never are re-arrested), people with medical conditions that increase their risk of death, and people within six months of release, Illinois can release enough people from prison to make social distancing possible inside, to reduce the spread and prevent more deaths.  IDOC must increase testing and provide prompt medical care when people inside report that they are ill.  

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.

UUPMI Events

Prison Industrial Complex 101: Virtual Training
Saturday, January 16, 2021, 10:00am - 11:30am CST
and
Saturday, January 23, 2021, 10:00am - 11:30am CST
Register here

It’s easy to feel helpless in the face of the racial and economic injustice in our society. This is an opportunity to learn and reflect on what we can do to change it. This workshop is intended to challenge participants towards growth and inspire ongoing work and action. During workshop participants will have the opportunity to:

• Examine the prison industrial complex root: its reach, impact and our ability to transform it.
• Connect Unitarian Universalist (UU) values to the work to divest from prisons and police and invest in building new systems of safety, healing, and accountability.
• Build connections with organizations engaged in prisoner solidarity and restorative justice.
• Learn about the UU Prison Ministry and how your congregation or community can support our work.

NOTE - this is a class that UUPMI encourages all people involved with this work as Pen Pals, Solidarity Circle Members or In Prison volunteers to take. 
​
​Register here

Virtual Solidarity Circle Member Training Registration
Sun. March 7, 2021
3pm-4:30pm CST
Register here

A Solidarity Circle is a group of individuals who come together to journey with someone who has been released from prison or jail. The group consists of a Circle Leader and several Circle Members (ideally 6-8) who meet regularly to listen and to assist the Circle Leader in finding ways to meet both immediate and long term needs, and to achieve independence.  The Concentrated Training session is a meeting with all of the Circle Members before the first meeting of the Solidarity Circle with the Circle Leader.  This includes training about the logistics of the Circle meetings, Circle Leader boundaries, and identifying points of privilege when engaged with someone with a social location different from the Circle Member’s social location. 

You will receive a Zoom link when we confirm your registration by email.

Past events...

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

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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.

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.
​
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.

Click here for more information about events

Our Mission

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

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HUGE Celebrations for Monica Cosby:
FIELD FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES ITS FIRST LEADERS FOR A NEW CHICAGO AWARD RECIPIENTS -- The Field Foundation today announced the 14 recipients of its inaugural Leaders for a New Chicago award, supported by a $2.1 million grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to expand the definition of leadership in Chicago.
“In Chicago we have no shortage of brilliant minds working every day to change lives and reshape our city,” said Angelique Power, president, the Field Foundation. “We are so honored to be in partnership with the MacArthur Foundation as we hand over a megaphone, share resources, and then sit back and watch as these incredible people continue to soar, bringing our city to more just and beautiful places than we could’ve ever imagined.”

THE 2019 LEADERS FOR A NEW CHICAGO AWARDEES ARE:
• Monica Cosby, a leader of the participatory defense work at Westside Justice Center and one of the leading advocates for incarcerated women and the fight for post-incarceration rights in Chicago.
Read More

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.

Donate Now

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.