Women's Justice & Freedom Initiative

The Women’s Justice & Freedom Initiative is officially here and ready to fight until Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility is shut down with no new prison. #FreeHer #ClosePrisons #ShutDownCRCF

WJFI's #ThrowbackThursday has long been a community favorite feature of our social media presence. See this week's throwback from an 1882 report of prison guards' salaries at the Vermont State Penitentiary (Windsor.) #NoNewVTPrisons #AbolishPrisons

We are constantly receiving emails DM's from interested community members and volunteers looking to help and support. Something you can do right now: tell a friend to tell a friend. Support grassroots organizations doing abolition work led by formerly incarcerated folks!

Artwork from folks incarcerated inside CRCF, donated specially to WJFI. #NoNewVTPrisons #FreeHer #abolishprisons

Pride was a riot. Let's honor its legacy, not with corporate branding and rainbow consumerism, but instead by realizing the vision of #abolition. WJFI is proud to rejoice in creative and honest gender expression. We see you and we love you! Happy Pride, community. #NoNewVTPrisons

Let's work together to allocate huge amounts of money like this towards restorative justice instead of mass incarceration. #NoNewVTPrisons

Friday on a 3-day weekend feels like a reprieve from work and school... if you're not incarcerated, that is. While you're celebrating time with your friends and family, don't forget to advocate for #NoNewVTPrisons.

Among the crowd at [the selling of Windsor Prison in Vermont] was Robert Murray, a short, leathery looking man who had spent 25 years in the old prison on a murder charge. Asked what he thought of the closing of the prison, he said softly, “Beautiful.”'

The work necessary to decarcerate our communities is being done by grassroots organizations led by formerly incarcerated and incarcerated folx, yet local politicians continue to ignore it. We've already mapped out the solution to mass incarceration, split up into 5 tenets.

For so many in Vermont, summer signifies adventure, fun activities, and nature. But for folks incarcerated around the state, restorative and healthy activities are not an option. In fact, prison conditions are notoriously unhealthy, especially in cases of extreme weather and heat

Undefeated. Artwork donated to WJFI from residents currently incarcerated at CRCF in South Burlington. #NoNewVTPrisons

Vermont has an incarceration rate of 288 per 100,000 people (including prisons, jails, immigration detention, and juvenile justice facilities), meaning that it locks up a higher percentage of its people than almost any democracy on earth. #AbolishPrison #NoNewVTPrisons

Throwback Thursday: on December 7th, 1926, a clipping from the Rutland Daily claimed that the largest prison in Vermont at the time (Windsor Prison) was overcrowded. Fast forward 96 years later, we still have this same problem in the Vermont Corrections system. #NoNewVTPrisons

Pictured: Nearly 2 dozen people demanding a status update in the case of Cheryl Weimar, formerly incarcerated woman who was paralyzed after an encounter with guards 3 years ago. WJFI works with and supports our sisters and sister organizations fighting for incarcerated women.

Alyena’s mother, WJFI Executive Director Ashley Messier, was formerly incarcerated at CRCF. Alyena used to visit her during visitations, including on Mother’s Day. Yesterday, her and Ashley bought and delivered 100 pints of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream to CRCF for Mother’s Day.

And a new prison wouldn't make that disparity any smaller; abolition is the only way forward. No New Vermont Prisons. #NoNewVTPrisons

WJFI knows the path to abolition is paved by the formerly incarcerated. We commit to centering currently and formerly incarcerated people, their families, and disproportionately impacted communities. #NoNewVTPrisons

Throwback Thursday: the first prison in Vermont was built in 1807. It has been 215 years since Vermont prisons were erected and now is the time to change how we approach rehabilitation in our community.

“Prisons do not disappear problems, they disappear human beings.” –Angela Davis This piece of artwork was created by an individual incarcerated at Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility and given as a donation to WJFI. What does healing mean to you?

Get to know Ashley Messier (and WJFI) better by clicking the link in bio to see her featured in news outlets advocating for prison abolition. #wjfi #NoNewVTPrisons

This #EarthDay, consider environmental conditions inside and around prisons. Climate change is one reason WJFI fights for #NoNewVTPrisons.