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With your help, I can tell my story at the national level.
Friends,
I’ve been invited to speak at the 16th Annual Adult and Juvenile Female Offender Conference in Hartford, Connecticut, on Oct. 13-15. This is the only professional conference focused exclusively on women and girls involved with the criminal justice system, and it draws hundreds of attendees every year.
This year’s conference theme is “New Paths to Resiliency,” and I have been given 90 minutes to share my own path to resiliency with an audience of professionals who work in federal, state and local correctional facilities, as well as treatment providers and researchers from the United States, Canada, and other countries. My presentation, titled “The Road to Recovery Using the 4Cs,” will talk about my experience with Truth Be Told as an incarcerated participant and as a volunteer after being released from prison. Truth Be Told’s 4 Cs — Community building, Creativity, Communication skills and Caring for self — have been an important part of my resiliency and ability to break the cycle of incarceration in my own life. I want others who work with women in the criminal justice system to know about my journey.
But I’m going to need your help to get to Connecticut.
As a full-time college student on scholarship, my finances are very limited. I do not have an agency to sponsor this trip, so I am looking to my community for support. I need money to cover the conference fee, airfare, hotel, meals and ground transportation. My mentor and I have put together an estimated budget of $2,195.
Any amount you can give toward my travel expenses would be greatly appreciated. You can donate through my GoFundMe site here.
Longtime Truth Be Told volunteer Katie Ford will be joining me in Connecticut and speaking about her experience with the 4 Cs as a behind bars classroom facilitator. We are excited to be crossing this important threshold together, telling our stories of transformation and resiliency at the national level.
Thank you in advance for supporting my passion for helping others and for believing that every person’s story matters.
Dara’s Story
Dara Musick’s life story has taken her from a shattered childhood and multiple incarcerations to recovery, college and receiving Austin Community College’s Presidential Student Achievement Award. At age 14, after enduring years of familial abuse, Dara ran away from a children’s home and into the streets of Houston, where she was introduced to methamphetamines and began her self-described “25-year dance with death.” During that time, Dara was in and out of juvenile detention facilities and served five prison sentences. After her last incarceration in 2010, Dara was diagnosed with cancer. In fighting for her life, she was able to see, for the first time, a different path for herself. She began believing the people who believed in her. With only a sixth-grade education, she enrolled at Austin Community College and went on to earn an associate’s degree in social work in 2014 and was the recipient of the Presidential Student Achievement Award. Today, Dara is pursuing her bachelor’s degree. She also volunteers her time with two Austin nonprofits that serve women who have experienced incarceration. She frequently speaks about her journey to audiences behind and beyond prison walls.
Katie’s Story
Since 1993, Katie Ford has made a living telling stories as a journalist. She has written and edited content for media outlets such as CNET News, MIT Technology Review, The Washington Post, Austin Business Journal and Andrew Harper Traveler. However, it wasn’t until 2010 that she stumbled upon her biggest story — her own. For five years as a volunteer for Austin nonprofit Truth Be Told, Katie has helped incarcerated women write and share the story of what led them to prison. It’s a deeply reflective process that cultivates empathy, compassion, forgiveness and healing — the pillars for real transformation. Having now realized her true passion in life, Katie is pursuing a second career as a workshop facilitator, leading expressive writing experiences inspired by the work she does in prison.
Friends,
I’ve been invited to speak at the 16th Annual Adult and Juvenile Female Offender Conference in Hartford, Connecticut, on Oct. 13-15. This is the only professional conference focused exclusively on women and girls involved with the criminal justice system, and it draws hundreds of attendees every year.
This year’s conference theme is “New Paths to Resiliency,” and I have been given 90 minutes to share my own path to resiliency with an audience of professionals who work in federal, state and local correctional facilities, as well as treatment providers and researchers from the United States, Canada, and other countries. My presentation, titled “The Road to Recovery Using the 4Cs,” will talk about my experience with Truth Be Told as an incarcerated participant and as a volunteer after being released from prison. Truth Be Told’s 4 Cs — Community building, Creativity, Communication skills and Caring for self — have been an important part of my resiliency and ability to break the cycle of incarceration in my own life. I want others who work with women in the criminal justice system to know about my journey.
But I’m going to need your help to get to Connecticut.
As a full-time college student on scholarship, my finances are very limited. I do not have an agency to sponsor this trip, so I am looking to my community for support. I need money to cover the conference fee, airfare, hotel, meals and ground transportation. My mentor and I have put together an estimated budget of $2,195.
Any amount you can give toward my travel expenses would be greatly appreciated. You can donate through my GoFundMe site here.
Longtime Truth Be Told volunteer Katie Ford will be joining me in Connecticut and speaking about her experience with the 4 Cs as a behind bars classroom facilitator. We are excited to be crossing this important threshold together, telling our stories of transformation and resiliency at the national level.
Thank you in advance for supporting my passion for helping others and for believing that every person’s story matters.
Dara’s Story
Dara Musick’s life story has taken her from a shattered childhood and multiple incarcerations to recovery, college and receiving Austin Community College’s Presidential Student Achievement Award. At age 14, after enduring years of familial abuse, Dara ran away from a children’s home and into the streets of Houston, where she was introduced to methamphetamines and began her self-described “25-year dance with death.” During that time, Dara was in and out of juvenile detention facilities and served five prison sentences. After her last incarceration in 2010, Dara was diagnosed with cancer. In fighting for her life, she was able to see, for the first time, a different path for herself. She began believing the people who believed in her. With only a sixth-grade education, she enrolled at Austin Community College and went on to earn an associate’s degree in social work in 2014 and was the recipient of the Presidential Student Achievement Award. Today, Dara is pursuing her bachelor’s degree. She also volunteers her time with two Austin nonprofits that serve women who have experienced incarceration. She frequently speaks about her journey to audiences behind and beyond prison walls.
Katie’s Story
Since 1993, Katie Ford has made a living telling stories as a journalist. She has written and edited content for media outlets such as CNET News, MIT Technology Review, The Washington Post, Austin Business Journal and Andrew Harper Traveler. However, it wasn’t until 2010 that she stumbled upon her biggest story — her own. For five years as a volunteer for Austin nonprofit Truth Be Told, Katie has helped incarcerated women write and share the story of what led them to prison. It’s a deeply reflective process that cultivates empathy, compassion, forgiveness and healing — the pillars for real transformation. Having now realized her true passion in life, Katie is pursuing a second career as a workshop facilitator, leading expressive writing experiences inspired by the work she does in prison.