Building Lives With Learning (BLWL) is a non-profit public benefit corporation dedicated to providing educational and vocational opportunities to current and previously incarcerated women and their children. Building Lives With Learning was initially funded by formerly women who benefited from the educational opportunities that empowered their rehabilitation.
Education is the key to creating change in the lives of those who are incarcerated. Education develops the critical thinking skills and knowledge necessary for the examination of life choices and causative factors that lead to crime, as well as lead to improved decision making and productive lives.
To date, BLWL has spent $3500 on textbooks, tuition, and scholarships through the first quarter of 2018. We have assisted over 27 women in pursuing their goals of higher education, and the textbooks we have donated continue to benefit additional students each semester.
Help us reach Building Lives With Learning ’s goal of raising $15,000.oo in 2018. This amount will enable us to continue and expand funding educational pursuits for the women at the California Institute for Women (CIW), including offering the opportunity to begin exploring Bachelor and Master’s studies.
In addition, one of our goals is to offer a scholarship to the children of incarcerated women each August. This scholarship will help to cover the costs of the following school year. The criteria for receiving this scholarship is still being finalized, however, it will be along the lines of a written essay contest….more on this later.
As we look forward to 2019 we have our sights set on opening our philanthropic efforts to include Folsom, however being able to proceed to this next level is heavily predicated on meeting our donation goals.