The Prison Project
Western Massachusetts Correctional and Alcohol Center. Howard Street
Songbird Sings provides access to the arts (songwriting and performances) for incarcerated women, giving voice to a silenced and invisible population. There is little funding for healing arts programs for women who are incarcerated. Art programs such as A Woman’s Voicenot only mean enhancing a woman’s life, but in some cases it will mean saving a life.
Some of the effects of violence and trauma are chronic poverty, homelessness, substance abuse and mental health issues, often leading to suicide attempts, hospitalizations, chronic physical health issues and behaviors that are systemic to choices made that result in prison sentences.
Through the workshop, participants come to see that they do not have to go back to the lives they once lived. They learn to have faith in their creative abilities, and begin to recognize the power in their own voice.
It is a means for strengthening connection to their peers, the community and brings awareness that they can affect social and personal change. Robin works directly with up to 18 participants, and a performance is presented at the end of the workshop.
