Donate to Voices From Inside

Voices From Inside is located in Western Massachusetts and serves communities spanning three counties: Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden. Through creative writing workshops, public performances and readings, and leadership training, VFI’s mission is to encourage and support the empowerment of women who are at risk in our society. We work with women who have been incarcerated, are in recovery, and have contended with mental health problems to make changes necessary to create fulfilling lives and engage positively with their communities. Our writing workshops take place within jails, recovery centers, and social service agencies. Since 1999, VFI has worked with hundreds of women and reached thousands of community members in Western Massachusetts and beyond. 

VFI’s work is driven by two primary goals: to help underserved women to discover their voices by encouraging them to write; and to bring their voices into the community through public readings and chapbook publications. By introducing our participants to more mainstream audiences, we aim to destigmatize incarceration, mental health, and addiction to promote better understanding of the particular reasons women can become addicted and incarcerated in our society. We have seen that these experiences overwhelmingly stem from personal histories of abuse, poverty, and lack of social service networks.