Orleans Public Defenders Client Book Fund
Donation protected
We are volunteers for the Orleans Public Defenders Office (OPD) in New Orleans. We’re asking for your support to help us buy books for our incarcerated clients.
There are on average 1,000 people in custody every day in New Orleans. Most will spend weeks, months, and even years incarcerated without being convicted of a crime, just waiting for their day in court.
Books and libraries in jails and prisons have long been a way for people to remain engaged, focused and stable while locked away for hours upon hours each day. New Orleans' jail has no library. Books aren’t a luxury, as some claim. They are critical to incarcerated people’s well-being, especially during COVID-19. Under the New Orleans jail’s coronavirus restrictions, incarcerated people spend 23 hours a day in their cells. Incarcerated people can't leave their cells for meals, for exercise, or to work jobs. They can’t even have in-person visits with their family.
OPD has seen how books benefit our clients’ mental health and eases their reentry into society. According to a 2017 federal report, about 1 in 3 people in New Orleans jails take prescriptions for mental health and addiction issues. Books alone can’t treat these issues, but they do offer stories and information that help people cope.
OPD's clients can't get books without support. OPD’s clients have limited financial resources. It can be a struggle for OPD's clients to buy themselves deodorant or soap, much less books. Compounding that, jail policies only allow incarcerated people to receive new books, so OPD’s clients can’t get more affordable used books or accept any used book donations.
Volunteer clerks and interns at OPD started the client book fund during the summer of 2019, after they noticed many OPD attorneys spent their own money to buy their clients books. Those clerks and interns raised thousands of dollars to help buy books. Interest and excitement grew rapidly. Hundreds of OPD's clients requested and got a wide range of materials, including adult literacy materials, Bibles, illustrated dictionaries, introductory books about the law, mystery novels, crossword puzzles, and copies of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Now, that book fund is depleted. We are again asking you to please donate to the Books Behind Bars fund.
OPD attorneys, investigators, client advocates, social workers, and administrators fighting for clients every day need more resources. We believe this initiative is a small but tangible way to offer that. We hope you join us by donating anything you can.
SOURCES
Lane, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune Emily. “1 In 3 New Orleans Inmates Take Mental Health Drugs, Jail Monitors Say.” NOLA.com, 11 May 2017, www.nola.com/news/crime_police/article_1f9d2223-787b-5f6e-997e-42e70ce2ae26.html#:~:text=Virtual%20Home%20Tours-,1%20in%203%20New%20Orleans%20inmates,health%20drugs%2C%20jail%20monitors%20say&text=One%20in%20three%20Orleans%20Parish,federal%20jail%20monitors'%20report%20says.
There are on average 1,000 people in custody every day in New Orleans. Most will spend weeks, months, and even years incarcerated without being convicted of a crime, just waiting for their day in court.
Books and libraries in jails and prisons have long been a way for people to remain engaged, focused and stable while locked away for hours upon hours each day. New Orleans' jail has no library. Books aren’t a luxury, as some claim. They are critical to incarcerated people’s well-being, especially during COVID-19. Under the New Orleans jail’s coronavirus restrictions, incarcerated people spend 23 hours a day in their cells. Incarcerated people can't leave their cells for meals, for exercise, or to work jobs. They can’t even have in-person visits with their family.
OPD has seen how books benefit our clients’ mental health and eases their reentry into society. According to a 2017 federal report, about 1 in 3 people in New Orleans jails take prescriptions for mental health and addiction issues. Books alone can’t treat these issues, but they do offer stories and information that help people cope.
OPD's clients can't get books without support. OPD’s clients have limited financial resources. It can be a struggle for OPD's clients to buy themselves deodorant or soap, much less books. Compounding that, jail policies only allow incarcerated people to receive new books, so OPD’s clients can’t get more affordable used books or accept any used book donations.
Volunteer clerks and interns at OPD started the client book fund during the summer of 2019, after they noticed many OPD attorneys spent their own money to buy their clients books. Those clerks and interns raised thousands of dollars to help buy books. Interest and excitement grew rapidly. Hundreds of OPD's clients requested and got a wide range of materials, including adult literacy materials, Bibles, illustrated dictionaries, introductory books about the law, mystery novels, crossword puzzles, and copies of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Now, that book fund is depleted. We are again asking you to please donate to the Books Behind Bars fund.
OPD attorneys, investigators, client advocates, social workers, and administrators fighting for clients every day need more resources. We believe this initiative is a small but tangible way to offer that. We hope you join us by donating anything you can.
SOURCES
Lane, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune Emily. “1 In 3 New Orleans Inmates Take Mental Health Drugs, Jail Monitors Say.” NOLA.com, 11 May 2017, www.nola.com/news/crime_police/article_1f9d2223-787b-5f6e-997e-42e70ce2ae26.html#:~:text=Virtual%20Home%20Tours-,1%20in%203%20New%20Orleans%20inmates,health%20drugs%2C%20jail%20monitors%20say&text=One%20in%20three%20Orleans%20Parish,federal%20jail%20monitors'%20report%20says.
Organizer
Orleans Public Defenders
Organizer
New Orleans, LA