Laura Bopp with the University of Scranton delegation at the 2015 Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice Advocacy Day.<\/p><\/div>\n
Bopp\u2019s vision has grown into a program entitled LEAP\u2014Literacy, Education, and Advocacy i<\/strong>n Prison.<\/strong> She and a group of University of Scranton students, which has ranged in size from 10-30 volunteers, provide a space for creative writing and community one evening each week for women incarcerated at the Lackawanna County Prison.<\/p>\n\u201cI tell the students that they will need to take a <\/span>leap<\/span><\/em> out of their comfort zone, rather than just a step. It is different from any service experience previously available on campus.\u201d Bopp has structured the program to include numerous trainings for volunteers, including with a women\u2019s resource center on dealing with traumatic and personal sharing from women in the program. The prison required background checks and an extensive tour prior to the program\u2019s start. \u201cIf you\u2019re not used to it, it can be very abrasive and startling,\u201d says Bopp of the prison tour and restrictions placed on both inmates and visitors. <\/span><\/p>\nLEAP members at the Lackawanna County Prison.<\/p><\/div>\n
Colleen Boyle<\/strong>, a Philadelphia native who began volunteering with the LEAP program during her freshman year at the University of Scranton and also attended the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice, shares the story of a woman who was very extroverted and personable but was unwilling to follow workshop instructions. \u201cThen, when we started writing word mandalas,\u201d explains Boyle, \u201cshe wrote a poem in a rotating spiral about life in prison and how hard it is to feel trapped and alone, stripped of basic human rights. She blew me away with the talent she has, all that she needed was a chance, someone to show her she is not just a statistic, but an individual with feelings and talents who has a right to speak her mind creatively.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nBopp explains that the program has needed to be very malleable, as many participants come with great passion and talent, but the transient nature of the prison system brings many new participants each week. One week, a discussion of characters in popular culture, designed to appeal to both long-term attendees and women new to the program, drew participants to explore a universal theme\u2014mothers protecting their children. \u201cA lot the women will say that they want to give their child the best life possible, to let them know that they can do better than they\u2019ve done,\u201d Bopp shares. \u201cWe all have mothers and we are all children to someone, so it became an easy way for us to relate to each other. When we walk into that room, our labels are stripped away; we are no longer inmates and students, but women writing together. We aren\u2019t there to hear what they did, but help them write and express what they want.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n