truth be told needs help

i received an email (included below) last week from nathalie sorrell, my friend and the co-founder of truth be told, a nonprofit that works with women in and after prison, using respectful listening to help them tell/write/move their stories and providing classes that provide the women with opportunities to express themselves, be creative, and learn new tools.

truth be told has been very successful changing women's lives, helping them find grace as well as communication skills and self-esteem.

click the title of this post (or click the TBT link in the "favorite links" area of this page) to learn more. read the newsletters to hear the voices of the women whom TBT serves and who serve them. consider going to a graduation ceremony next fall or spring--it is a deep heart-opening experience.

i was on TBT's board for a couple of years, and one of our long-term goals was to expand this volunteer-based program to other prisons around the state. TBT started with volunteers working at the prison in lockhart in 2000 and more recently expanded to provide programs at the travis county jail.

TBT is now ready to expand even more.

nathalie is requesting donations to help get started on a video to train volunteers to take this program into prisons statewide. later there will be a curriculum and hopefully grants, but they need dollars now to start the filming in mid-july.

yay for this fantastic progress! this makes my heart sing, to see this good work expand and ripple through the world, touching the lives of many individuals and communities.

i'm donating money, and if you would like to follow suit (and get a tax deductible receipt), please send it to:

Truth Be Told
P.O. Box 161763
Austin, TX 78716

include a note that earmarks your donation for the Model Program Video.

here's nathalie's letter:

Dear Bobby, Keith, Mary and S/Zan!!!

We want you to share in our joy and we need your help for TBT's next big step!

Attached you will find a letter to Warden Barry at Lockhart prison, asking for permission to create a training film this summer and fall, to enable us to take Truth Be Told into other prisons. Remember when we created our Vision to take TBT into other Texas women's prisons and realized we'd need to train volunteers in other areas outside Austin to do this work?

In order to make this film, we need some funding asap. We will be writing grants that we've been invited to write for $30,000 - hopefully this will enable us to create the entire Model Program Training Manual and DVD by the beginning of 2009. However, in order to begin filming on July 18th, 2008 at our Orientation for fall classes - we need $2500.

We've already been given $500 seed money.

Can you pass the word to your friends and other supporters of Truth Be Told, and let us see how this next step will be funded? When you were on the Board, you helped us envision this big dream, and your hard work and financial support has helped us get this far!

Now ... can you help with this next big step?

Gratefully and with Joy!
Nathalie