in love and solidarity. thank you!
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Hi everyone!
Happy Spring. Last year was a wild ride and it's not quite done. But! I'm hoping that joyful, fun, serene, and happy moments blossom for you in the spring alongside the flowers.
Great news! We actually got the garden going. We are growing borage, cosmos, snap dragons, carrots, beets, cilantro (except we have an unknown friend living in the yard who apparently LOVES cilantro and sunflower sprouts).
Each of the kids has their own planter box. I must say it is pretty interesting to see how that is working out. KJ has about 50 carrots, 5 sunflowers, 20 kale, and several echinacea growing in a three foot planter box. I must say it is intriguingly crowded in there.
Everyone cross your fingers that Joanee gets accepted into the University of Washington!
Sending love and hugs!
xoxoxo
Dearest friends, family, and supporters of our family! :)
We are ever grateful for your assistance during this trying time. We (Jasper and Shawna) are still employed through the home as full-time caregivers to five young people who are living through the trauma of incarceration. Unfortunately, that important work is without income. The great news is since we do not work outside of the home we are able to fully attend to the emotional, physical and educational needs of the children in our household. In addition to that we are able to be a safe haven and provide support to our nephews whose mom was also incarcerated. Because of the generosity of our friends and supporters, we are all thriving.
We have moved from gofundme to this new platform, which has an option for recurring donations.
The transition from being a queer childless couple in the Bay Area to suddenly being parents of five in an Arizona suburb has been jarring. We've adjusted well but this life can be overwhelming and very lonely. At times the pressure can be nearly unbearable. We have so many people leaning on us and there isn't anyone nearby for us to lean on. We are responsible for five children (four under the age of nine), we help out other households with several small children impacted by incarceration and we provide emotional and financial support to our loved ones who are serving time. The prison industrial complex seeks to destroy families by traumatizing children and financially devastating people on the outside with incarcerated loved ones. This is hard work but we have a strong conviction that this is the type of intervention and healing that it takes to disrupt and recover from a system that is generationally penalizing.
Thanks to the support we've received, our kids are THRIVING despite it all. We were able to take them to California for a month during the summer where they attended summer camps for art and music, San Francisco Pride, they got to see the ocean! They have been attending Taekwondo at a local martial arts studio, which has increased their confidence and self esteem. Our kids have been able to participate in soccer through the YMCA. I (Shawna) am currently working towards becoming a certified group fitness instructor at the YMCA. Jasper and I are able to attend to our mental health with therapy and horseback riding lessons. We love the barn where we ride horses because of its family atmosphere. The kids often come to our lessons where they are able to hang with animals and learn how the barn functions.
We are extremely grateful for the abundance of support we have from our family outside of Arizona. We are so grateful that you all are willing to engage not just in our survival but in our capacity to experience joy and in our ability to break the cycle of incarceration.
Our goal is to reach $2400 per month in recurring monthly donations to cover our monthly expenses. Below is a breakdown of what monthly donations will cover:
$1442 Mortgage
$250 Utilities
$140 Martial Arts
$70 discounted family YMCA membership
$90 Therapy Shawna
$50 After School Program for kids including nephews
$250 Horseback riding lessons
$80 Cell phones
Please consider becoming a monthly donor of any amount or sponsoring a monthly expense to support our family so that these children can continue to thrive. Your financial contribution plays a direct role in breaking the cycle of incarceration. They are the third generation of young people in this family to be impacted by the disappearance of a parent into the prison system.
If 80 people give $15 a month we have $1200! <3
If 48 people pledge $50 a month or if 24 people pledge $100 we will have our bills covered! <3 <3 <3
Hi everyone!
Happy Spring. Last year was a wild ride and it's not quite done. But! I'm hoping that joyful, fun, serene, and happy moments blossom for you in the spring alongside the flowers.
Great news! We actually got the garden going. We are growing borage, cosmos, snap dragons, carrots, beets, cilantro (except we have an unknown friend living in the yard who apparently LOVES cilantro and sunflower sprouts).
Each of the kids has their own planter box. I must say it is pretty interesting to see how that is working out. KJ has about 50 carrots, 5 sunflowers, 20 kale, and several echinacea growing in a three foot planter box. I must say it is intriguingly crowded in there.
Everyone cross your fingers that Joanee gets accepted into the University of Washington!
Sending love and hugs!
xoxoxo
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Hi! Nothing major to report here. Just writing to send you all some love and winter well wishes. Actually now that I'm typing I've realized that December is an exciting month around here. We have THREE bdays. Jasper, KJ is turning 10 and Joanee is turning 18! So it's gonna be a fun month.
The kids are back to online school at home. Which is not so great because they were enjoying interacting with other kids at school and being face to face with their teachers was really helpful for their academics. But at this point we've adjusted and are making the most of it. We've been doing some fun crafts over fall break. We made xmas stockings using felt, puff paint, gems, pom poms, and a glue gun. I highly recommend! it was super fun and took up most of the evening. We also have been doing some MAJOR yard work now that the weather has cooled down. Wish us luck in our garden. We have the rest of the month to get it together.
The other exciting thing is that Joanee is preparing to go off to college! She turns 18 on Monday. We've been working a lot on college preparation and applications. She has already been accepted into four schools BUT she has her heart set on the University of Washington. We won't find out for a few months. Although, I'm sure she'll get in - she is an excellent student.
Thank you again for your care and generosity. We are inspired by it everyday. Especially when homeschooling, emotional support and isolation get overwhelming - we know we are not alone. As always we are sending our love.
xoxoxoxo
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Hi everyone,
Thank you for continuing to support us through this time. We are coming up on two years here and the other day I was brought to tears thinking of how many ppl, many that we have never even met, have supported us through this. The support of so many has literally changed the course of our lives and we are incredibly thankful.
The whole experience has been so surreal because throughout these two years it seemed like every time we got a handle on things something else got thrown our way. Most recently it was Covid-19 and the kids no longer going to school. As many of you know the uncertainty and monotony of social distancing can be overwhelming.
We've finally got a routine down that is working.The kids are happy to be in school because they love learning. Their adaptability never ceases to amaze me. Somehow they managed to make friends at a new school while attending classes digitally. Digital school requires a lot of attention, monitoring and learning of new technical processes. Now that we are on week three it feels much more manageable, however its still an overwhelming task with three young kids to make sure they know what's going on in their classes and turning in their assignments. Joanee who is a senior now, continues to be incredibly helpful with the kids. We would be lost without her, she is amazing. Our last year here we wanna do everything we can to support Joanee into getting to college and fulfilling her dream of traveling abroad to study in South Korea. She has spent the last year teaching herself Korean!
My mom was released from federal prison in California a year early because she has existing conditions that make her high risk and there were several cases of Covid in the prison she was at. She will be living about an hour away. What a strange time to be released from prison? Amidst social uprising and a pandemic. She came to visit us the other day and the kids were so happy to see her. It is a little sad that she can't come in and eat dinner with us or be affectionate with the kids. Jasper and I are getting repairs done on an old van that my aunt gave us so that she can have reliable transportation. We are all so happy that she is home and looking forward to this new era in her life.
My sister Erica, is still working on-site at a farm in Arizona during the last year of her sentence in hopes that working ten hours a day will make the time go by faster. She is in high spirits and trying to stay as positive as possible. Routinely, ppl are removed from the crew for testing positive for Covid-19. We are able to set aside funds to make sure she is able to buy supplies like spices, medicine, hand soap, and multivitamins as preventative care. Our two year anniversary is next month. September will also mark seven months until her release.
Thank you all again for your support through this tumultuous experience. It has allowed us to be able to adjust, focus on our healing and home while providing attentive care to the children's education. Not only that, but your financial contributions have allowed the kids to enjoy enriching activities like soccer, tae kwon do, horse camp, and traveling.
Also, I want to take a moment to appreciate ppl who are able to assist us energetically with positive messages of support, phone calls to the kids, offering their services as tutors and activity leaders via zoom and being our friends so that we know we are not alone through this.
Love always,
Shawna
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Happy Full Moon in Libra. The moon was so beautiful last night. Khloe (the youngest) loves the moon. At dusk she always says, "The sun is going to sleep." We went for a walk last night to watch the moon rise and left a jug of water in the backyard so we could drink moon water this morning.
My sister, Erica, was very interested in the astrological themes of this moon because it marked a turning point. We now have less than 1 year until her release 351 days. Her and her friends took a walk to watch the moonrise and made moon water as well. They had a sharing circle where they expressed gratitude and intentions. I'm adding this picture from a few months ago because she wanted me to let you all know that she is grateful for the ways you have helped us through this.
We are sending you love in quarantine. It can be rough but we have so much to be thankful for. The older kids are taking classes on ZOOM. I kinda think it's better than regular school. At least the classes they are taking are; Spanish, Marine Biology, Math, Yoga and Poetry. A few teachers in the Bay Area are offering the classes. It's cool cause they still get to interact with other children.
We have THREE birthdays coming up this month; a third, seventh and 38th. We are excited to celebrate at home and looking forward to cake, karaoke and a runway show.
We are sending you love and wishes of peace, joy, calm and prosperity.
xoxoxo
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Hi everyone, I hope you all are as well as can be during this time. We are practicing social distancing and Montessori style homeschooling... I'm not sure what to call it but in addition to some school work, the kids have been learning a lot about gardening and constructing a fence tall enough to keep our giant dog out. He keeps digging up the aloe vera plants #baddog!
Thank you for continuing to support us through monthly donations if you are able to. It has been a major peace of mind for us. Sending you all love!
xoxoxo
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Hi everyone. My sister, Erica, and I were a part of a documentary about a program called Journey Home that she participated in at Estrella County Jail. Participants of Journey Home are guided through music, art, and reflection to aid in a sense of healing and empowerment through incarceration. Estrella County Jail is hard time. People are locked up in a giant dorm full of 125 beds and not able to go outside. Journey Home is an amazing and impactful program that provides an outlet and sense of joy. Not only that but they have the lowest recitivism rate of all the programs in county jail. Please watch the documentary to hear just a little from ppl who are silenced and invisibilized through the penal system. Ty for all your support and compassion through this.
https://vimeo.com/383596855?fbclid=IwAR02gXSfoCXDXBayXb0rAMHDcCF4dH5-SU3X5QDuI0Mq0siQl0--n8WdSN4
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Hi! I just wanna thank everyone for sharing, donating and sending positive energy. We are just over halfway towards our goal for monthly donations! This is amazing, thank you so much. It really means the world to us. It’s such a trip because the impact of your support radiates well beyond our home. It’s very uplifting for ppl to hear about our situation and the ways community has kept us afloat and well. My sister shares photos and stories about the situation with ppl she’s locked up with. Those stories help them feel happy and inspired. Because my sister is supported she is able to be someone in the prison who supports and uplifts others. Because my mom has a queer child and is being supported by all these ppl, many queer, she has been inspired to look out for trans women who are locked up with her. I just wanna thank you all again. Sending lots of love. Always.
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We worked the issue out and the page is back up and running! Click the donate button to give any amount.
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Due to technical difficulties this page is not currently working. Please send payments to Venmo: @shawna-shawnte or PayPal: [email protected] while we resolve the problem. thank you!
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