'We are still mothers': Jailed women give the gift of their voice at Christmas
Credit to Author: Lori Culbert| Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2019 21:13:18 +0000
This holiday season, Clarissa’s children will flip through the pages of a new Christmas book as their mother’s voice reads the words out loud to them — a classic holiday tradition for most families.
The difference for Clarissa, though, is that her five daughters will be in Manitoba, while she will be locked inside an Abbotsford prison. A recording of Clarissa reading the book will be at home with her kids, courtesy of the popular Storybook program run by the Elizabeth Fry Society.
“It helps me feel a little bit better. At least I’m trying to maintain some sort of connection with my kids,” Clarissa said from the Fraser Valley Institution for Women. “I can remind them that I still love them, and some time (will) make it home.”
In December 2018, Elizabeth Fry workers recorded Clarissa reading ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, then sent the CD and the book to her children. She was one of 530 incarcerated parents in B.C. in 2018 who taped stories that were mailed to their kids.
This Christmas, the 35-year-old mother has selected a “sparkly” holiday book based on the popular Disney movie Frozen.
“It’s comforting because at least they can have some kind of a link to me, to hear my voice. Because I raised them from the day they were born to the day I turned myself in,” said Clarissa, who was arrested in 2014.
She is serving a 10-year federal sentence. The Vancouver Sun is not publishing Clarissa’s full name or the details of her crime to protect the identity of her five daughters, who range in age from eight to 18.
Clarissa, an inmate at Fraser Valley Institution, reads “Twas the Night Before Christmas” as part of the Elizabeth Fry Storybook program.
The women who are featured in this story were convicted of a variety of crimes, and are paying or have paid their debt to society. Their children did nothing wrong, though, so advocates of this program say it is designed to help these kids through difficult times while being separated from loved ones.
“Children with correctional parents have really high rates of depression and kinds of challenging behaviours because they are just so sad and angry,” said Shawn Bayes, Elizabeth Fry’s CEO.
The Storybook program is trying to create brighter futures for these children. Listening to the recordings reinforces that they haven’t been abandoned, and receiving books has encouraged literacy, she said. “It is highly valued by children to be able to hear your parents’ voices. To have that connection, so they know their parent hasn’t disappeared.”
Elizabeth Fry, a charity that supports women and children affected by the justice system, started its Storybook program in 2009 at the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women and the Surrey Pretrial Centre. It has expanded to eight jails in B.C., including Nanaimo, Mission and Prince George. Elizabeth Fry staff, volunteers or prison employees record the inmates’ voices reading books.
Over the past 12 years, the charity has bought 10,000 books and covers the postage to mail them. It pays for the program with a small government grant and through fundraising.
“I don’t think, when we started, we thought we were going to be so busy in the book-giving business,” Bayes said.
“There aren’t very many things that you can do and still be a parent when you are in prison. And this is something that every parent does: reads to their child.”
It is expensive for inmates to phone home from prison, so this provides a more cost-effective way for children to hear their parents’ voices over and over again. Of all the programs that Elizabeth Fry runs, Bayes said she receives the most fan mail about this one.
“What we heard was that kids were excited to read. They would put themselves to bed when they were having a bad day with the book and the recording so they could listen to their parent,” Bayes said, noting it is also helpful after the parents are released from custody.
“Children, when they meet their parent, they recognize their voice because they’ve been read to. … And that’s, of course, exactly what you want: that children would have that sense of safety and continuity in their lives.”
Elizabeth Fry Society’s CEO, Shawn Bayes.
Brian keeps the recordings of his wife reading to their sons, aged four and five, in his car’s CD player, so her voice and the accompanying books are with the boys whenever they drive anywhere.
“They really like to hear her voice,” said Brian, a Metro Vancouver construction foreman who is raising his boys alone while his wife is in the Alouette provincial jail.
“They have sad moments when they are feeling lonely and missing mommy, and we can always go back to the book and say, ‘Mommy loves you and mommy is OK.’”
Their mother has recorded six books for them over the last year, including the Robert Munsch favourite Love You Forever and, most recently, Frosty the Snowman, which were delivered to their home along with the CDs of her voice.
When asked about the recordings, the five-year-old said they make him feel “tired” because they bring back memories of his mom reading to him at bedtime.
His four-year-old brother said getting the CDs makes him “super-duper happy. I don’t get to see her, but I get to say hi.”
Brian has told his boys their mother has gone away to get help for a serious disease. It’s not a lie, he says, because she suffers from addiction, which has been at the root of her crimes. He hopes staying connected to the boys through books will encourage her to stay clean.
“It might be helpful in her healing,” he said. “She’s a loving mom.”
While Chrissy Stover was incarcerated in Fraser Valley Institution for gun trafficking, she recorded books for her five nieces, who range in age from two to 12. She lived with them in a house in Surrey, along with other members of her family, before her arrest.
“They were devastated that I had to leave,” she recalled. “You go from seeing these kids every day to not seeing them for almost a year.”
She recorded portions of novels for the older girls, and picture books for the younger ones.
“The three younger kids thought it was the best thing. They were their new favourite books and they listened to them all the time.
“It’s a really good program. I believe it keeps you connected to the kids in your life. Phone calls aren’t enough, letters aren’t enough,” said Stover, who also has a 25-year-old daughter.
“Not only could they hear my voice, they could play it over and over again. I could read them that story every night.”
Chrissy Stover at Elizabeth Fry Society in New Westminster.
Stover, who was released on parole in April, said being separated from her family last Christmas while in prison was extremely difficult.
“The books were a way of staying connected, like I was still there, like I was reading them stories to put them to bed,” said Stover, who today works for both Elizabeth Fry and Atira Women’s Resource Society.
There are other similar programs in Canada, but Elizabeth Fry modelled B.C.’s version after successful ones in other countries. One of those is Storybook Dads, which was started in England 16 years ago; in 2018 alone, it produced more than 5,500 CDs of prisoners reading books, which were sent to nearly 18,000 children and other relatives.
Statistics on the organization’s website indicate nearly all inmates who participated thought the program strengthened their relationship with their children and led to more reading at home after their release. Children said they felt happier after receiving the CD, knowing that absent parents were thinking of them.
Although Elizabeth Fry’s program started off just for mothers, it now includes male inmates as well.
Tasmania has a similar program, and a research paper by the literacy educator with Tasmanian Prison Services found this “low-budget” concept had some impressive outcomes.
“By reading children’s books, the parent is not only improving their own literacy but also adding to their children’s education. This is an opportunity to address the problems of intergenerational low-level literacy so prevalent in the families of prison populations,” Sandra Duncan wrote in 2011.
“Strong ties with family are important factors in lowering recidivism rates. British research indicates that 58 per cent of prisoners reoffend within two years of release, but this is significantly reduced if prisoners keep in touch with their family while inside.”
Since arriving at Fraser Valley Institution in May 2018, Clarissa has read and recorded about two dozen books for her five daughters. For the younger girls, who are in foster care, Robert Munsch and other picture books are her favourites. For the older girls, who live with their grandmother, she reads the prologue or first chapter of novels such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
“I tell them on the recording to do the rest — read and you should be done by the time I send you another book,” she laughs.
She does not want to be like some inmates who “feel like there is no end in sight” and lose hope about maintaining a relationship with their children. She is sending her girls handwoven First Nations bracelets bearing their nicknames for Christmas presents, and will continue to send the gift of her voice in the new year.
“I’m just keeping in contact with my kids and my mom, and keep reminding my kids that I still exist and I still love them,” she said.
“It’s a really good program. Even though people get charged, we are still mothers.”
• Donations to the Storybook program can be made at elizabethfry.com/donate-now
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