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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 24, 2015)
Page 8 News Street Roots • Dec. 24-31, 2015 Reunited for the holidays Families that took partin the Family Preservation Project, a project to unite mothers and children at ojjee reek Correctional Facility, came back together for a night of fun and celebration Mimi Clinton, 31, from Lake Oswego (pictured in center) reunites with other mothers who participated in the Family Preservation Project while incarcerated at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville: It was the first time many of the women had seen each other since being released from prison. “Being able to remember how to be a mom, you know,” Clinton said. “Having that connection with other moms and how they deal with stuff and being able to bounce things off of each other. It really feds like I wasn’t even gone.” IBS BY JOEGTODE n celebration of the holiday season, participants with the Family Preservation Project enjoyed a performance of The Nutcracker on Dec. 20, courtesy of the Oregon Ballet Theater. It was a special reunion for FPP members, all of whom are mothers who served time in prison. Through the FPP, the women were able to continue parenting their children while they served their time, including regular visits, homework sessions and play time. The program helps preserve the personal family bonds often lost when a member goes to prison. It also provides adult and child education opportunitiesforparents and their families - inside and outside the prison. It is a partnership between Portland Community College' the Oregon Department of Corrections and the families and children of incarcerated mothers. The program, and the women and children p in it, were the subject of a documentary by ™jdand fihnmaker Bnan Lindstrom, titled Mothering Inside.” Lindstrom said he made the . i m to raise awareness about the work of FPP even while it faced elimination under state budget cuts. K 29, fnm Oswe«°- and daughter Sophia; 7, outside of the Keller Auditorium Bal^t Theater s performance of The Nutcracker on Dec. 20. T believe that if I lost my parental rightothat wou U n L prN>ab^ last wy hope in everything and probably gone back out into my addiction, I don’t know, but Hutt’s wha“^™ Zrt ^ f rT " what tm&am a M hopetfbea part of a family again. To be a mommy again, and you don’t have to let your worst mistake-your wont one decision define you for the rest of your life.* J one aecision -
