NYRAPP Campaign is fundraising
RAPP Campaign Fall Fundraiser
Please donate to the Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) Campaign to promote parole justice and bring older people home from New York State prisons.
Donate Today:
Donations to the RAPP Campaign help us expand our community organizing efforts, advocacy and educational materials, trips to Albany and other parts of New York State, honorariums for formerly incarcerated leaders, and other key aspects of our work.
We want to raise $20,000 to support our 2018-2019 campaign for parole justice. Help us reach our fundraising goal and support our work to #FreeOurElders.
Older People in Prison & Parole in New York State:
There are currently more than 10,000 older people in the New York State prison system. People in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and even 90s languish in cells and dorms, in-prison medical units, and hospice beds. They are connected to countless family members, friends and other loved ones.
The majority of older people in prison are eligible for parole and will appear before the New York State Parole Board and make their case for release. But Parole Board Commissioners deny parole to most older people who appear before them, despite their demonstrated low-risk to public safety. Instead of looking to a person's many accomplishments, they base their decisions almost exclusively on the nature of the crime.
Older people in prison are disproportionately people of color and poor people. To permanently punish incarcerated people and their families through repeated parole denials despite who they are today, upholds this country's legacy of racism and retribution. Every year, hundreds of older people die in New York State prisons instead of being released and spending their remaining years with their families.
About RAPP:
The RAPP Campaign was founded in 2013 by formerly incarcerated people who watched the rise of mass incarceration from behind bars. For RAPP’s founders, it was clear that increasingly long sentences and frequent parole denials kept a growing number of people in prison until they reached old age, and in some cases, died. For those reasons and more, they were inspired to form RAPP and advocate for the release of incarcerated elders even after they themselves were released.
With the support of four paid staff members (two full-time and two part-time), dozens of dedicated volunteers, and hundreds of concerned community members and partners, RAPP seeks to end mass incarceration and promote racial justice through the release of older and aging people in prison. Our fiscal sponsor is the Correctional Association of New York.
Our Work:
RAPP educates the public through community events, town halls, media and social media efforts. We build community power by engaging in grassroots base building, organizing public actions and protests, and forming partnerships with other community-based organizations. We work to shift culture and systems in ways that put an end to aging and death in prison and ensure that all incarcerated people have a meaningful opportunity for parole release.
Since our founding, we've worked to change the New York State Parole Board's regulations, shift the composition of the Board and its Commissioners, and expand the movement to end incarceration to include all people, regardless of their crimes. We've also pushed for greater supports for formerly incarcerated older people once they are home by organizing community-based task forces on older adult reentry and by helping to shape New York's fist-ever reentry program specifically for older adults.
Our efforts have doubled the Parole Board's overall release rates, including for those who are older and for people serving life sentences. However, thousands of older people remain warehoused in NYS prisons and the Parole Board continues to deny the majority of people they see. For these reasons and more, we need your support. Please contribute to our work to #FreeOurElders #SupportOurElders
Donate Today:
Donations to the RAPP Campaign help us expand our community organizing efforts, advocacy and educational materials, trips to Albany and other parts of New York State, honorariums for formerly incarcerated leaders, and other key aspects of our work.
We want to raise $20,000 to support our 2018-2019 campaign for parole justice. Help us reach our fundraising goal and support our work to #FreeOurElders.
Older People in Prison & Parole in New York State:
There are currently more than 10,000 older people in the New York State prison system. People in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and even 90s languish in cells and dorms, in-prison medical units, and hospice beds. They are connected to countless family members, friends and other loved ones.
The majority of older people in prison are eligible for parole and will appear before the New York State Parole Board and make their case for release. But Parole Board Commissioners deny parole to most older people who appear before them, despite their demonstrated low-risk to public safety. Instead of looking to a person's many accomplishments, they base their decisions almost exclusively on the nature of the crime.
Older people in prison are disproportionately people of color and poor people. To permanently punish incarcerated people and their families through repeated parole denials despite who they are today, upholds this country's legacy of racism and retribution. Every year, hundreds of older people die in New York State prisons instead of being released and spending their remaining years with their families.
About RAPP:
The RAPP Campaign was founded in 2013 by formerly incarcerated people who watched the rise of mass incarceration from behind bars. For RAPP’s founders, it was clear that increasingly long sentences and frequent parole denials kept a growing number of people in prison until they reached old age, and in some cases, died. For those reasons and more, they were inspired to form RAPP and advocate for the release of incarcerated elders even after they themselves were released.
With the support of four paid staff members (two full-time and two part-time), dozens of dedicated volunteers, and hundreds of concerned community members and partners, RAPP seeks to end mass incarceration and promote racial justice through the release of older and aging people in prison. Our fiscal sponsor is the Correctional Association of New York.
Our Work:
RAPP educates the public through community events, town halls, media and social media efforts. We build community power by engaging in grassroots base building, organizing public actions and protests, and forming partnerships with other community-based organizations. We work to shift culture and systems in ways that put an end to aging and death in prison and ensure that all incarcerated people have a meaningful opportunity for parole release.
Since our founding, we've worked to change the New York State Parole Board's regulations, shift the composition of the Board and its Commissioners, and expand the movement to end incarceration to include all people, regardless of their crimes. We've also pushed for greater supports for formerly incarcerated older people once they are home by organizing community-based task forces on older adult reentry and by helping to shape New York's fist-ever reentry program specifically for older adults.
Our efforts have doubled the Parole Board's overall release rates, including for those who are older and for people serving life sentences. However, thousands of older people remain warehoused in NYS prisons and the Parole Board continues to deny the majority of people they see. For these reasons and more, we need your support. Please contribute to our work to #FreeOurElders #SupportOurElders
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