Summer Newsletter: ARI Expands to Canada, Women's Prison & Staff Training!
Welcome to Authentic Relating International's (ARI) inaugural newsletter! Our intention is to share with you the difference you’re making by supporting this work in marginalized communities, starting with prisons in Colorado and beyond.
We've come a long way since leading the first 2-day ART Level 1: The ART of Being Human training in the Boulder County Jail at the beginning of 2018. Since then, we have delivered the course 13 times at four different correctional facilities throughout Colorado, reaching approximately 240 inmates.
The feedback we've received from offenders continues to blow us away.
"The ART of Being Human has changed my life. I have learned to welcome everything, even things that are uncomfortable. I feel so refreshed and alive. I feel okay with being who I am because of this class..."
"I noticed that people who I wouldn’t normally associated with in the yard, now I will. Those barriers are knocked down. This class has provided connection. There’s a connection with us now, of all different sizes, races ,colors, everything. [This class] showed us the nature of a human being - what we are and how we feel, it’s all the same."
"This program will make or break a man. If you apply this program in your daily life, outside of these walls, you will succeed in all you do, in all of your relationships from your wife to your kids, to your coworkers. I think it’s a beautiful program. I am very grateful that I was picked to get in here. I was an alternate to an alternate, so I was very lucky."
The three prisons we are serving regularly now have long waiting lists for our course. In fact, at La Vista in Pueblo, we have over 200 women on the growing waiting list!
IN ORDER TO MEET THE DEMAND AND MAKE OUR PRISON PROGRAM SUSTAINABLE, WE NEED YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT.
Please become a Founding Member of ARI! We invite you to sponsor an inmate for the price of a latte: $5/month. We truly need your help! Over a two-year period, this small amount would give an offender access to our two-day workshop that can pave the way to their future success both inside and outside of prison walls.
>>> SPONSOR AN INMATE <<<
OH CANADA!
A team of four Canadian Authentic Relating practitioners traveled all the way from Toronto to participate in the June 22-23 Art of Being Human training in Rifle Correctional Facility. They are eager to bring this work to underserved communities in Ontario and beyond. Shaina (third from the left in the photo) powerfully describes her experience at Rifle prison in ARI's first blog post.
"As we approach the entrance to Rifle Correctional Center, I can’t help but think, "This is the most beautiful prison I’ve ever seen". Of course, I’ve never actually seen a prison in real life before. The whole situation – my being about to participate in a two-day Authentic Relating workshop with 20 inmates – is a definite first for me. And despite the stunning scenery and unexpectedly friendly staff, I can feel myself gently shaking from the inside out."
Read Shaina's full testimonial here:https://www.authenticrelating.org/blog/testimony-rifle
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS STAFF TRAINING
In July, ARI delivered its first Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) staff training to those who oversee the Pre-Release Programs in each of the 24 CDOC prisons. The supervisor of the pre-release staff participated in our training last year at Rifle and was so moved that she arranged to bring the 2-day training to her division's annual retreat, because it provides a deeper team building experience and enables staff to approach conflict with more skill. See her testimonial below.
We received glowing feedback from participants and have already been invited to bring the The ART of Being Human to several more facilities in Colorado!
LA VISTA WOMEN'S PRISON
For the very first time ever, ARI brought The ART of Being Human training to a women's prison in Colorado, and the impact was absolutely remarkable. We were fortunate to have a professional film crew (Let's See Labs) document the experience and capture some of the incredible stories from a few of the participating inmates.
ARI Course Leader David Wood compiled a short video to give a little glimpse into the women's experience. Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBR8gnqfrPg
VOLUNTEER WITH ARI!
Are you interested in learning more about ARI firsthand by volunteering with us in some capacity? We are always looking for individuals interested in training to be course leaders, or those who are willing to assist ARI course leaders as they deliver courses inside the jails and prisons. We have an ever-growing Board of Directors and are excited to expand our leadership team with passionate volunteers ready to make a difference by donating their time, talent and/or treasure.
Some of the skills we need on a volunteer basis include: grant writing, marketing, fundraising, organizational skills, and strategic planning.
Learn more about our volunteer opportunities here: https://www.authenticrelating.org/volunteer
Testimonial from Kitty Arnold, Offender Programs Supervisor, Colorado Department of Corrections
"My first round of The ART of Being Human was experienced for two days with a room of male offenders in a minimum work camp. They were eager to share and to learn. The candidness of those men was admirable. They soaked in, as did I, the Five Practices of Authentic Relating Training. Of the five, Assume Nothing - rather Imagine, really stuck with me that day. Knowing that assuming is about another person, while imagining is about me, it has turned so many of my thoughts around in my head and has made me curious instead!
My staff are community program specialists in the Colorado State prisons where they facilitate a cognitive based pre-release curriculum using motivational interviewing, MI, as the main communication tool. I found that my first experience with ART and being an MI coach, that the two would complement each other and bring us as humans closer together.
We hired Authentic Relating International to facilitate a full two day training for our group of staff. Some staff had twenty years or more experience and others were new in our work unit. Many of the peers had never met. The training was an excellent way to get to know each other, one's self, and to find within what makes us who we are. As the staff revealed their experiences the welcoming sense toward each other opened up dramatically even further in our amazing work group.
I am ready for another round at another level! Being Human is an ART."