Laure E. Clemons

Laure E. Clemons is Executive Director and Founder of Extended Family, a support system for families of prisoners. After her husband was sent to prison in 2003, Laure struggled with financial, emotional, and physical challenges. Extended Family was developed out of the resources and solutions Laure found to survive the prison experience successfully. In 2007 she created Extended Family for Kids, an interactive and educational curriculum for children with an incarcerated family member. The Extended Family for Kids Curriculum Guide has been distributed to counselors, educators, churches and community-based agencies in 18 states. Laure has personally led over 1,000 students through the Extended Family for Kids Program. Since 2014, Extended Family has sent staff into every school in Cherokee County, AL to lead EFK Programs. Since 2015, Laure has travelled the State leading EFK Leader Training Workshops, teaching others how to start and lead EFK in their own communities. Laure has been a guest on radio and television, gone into prisons to speak to inmates, and been the featured speaker at national and state conferences. She is writing a book to guide other families through the prison experience. She and her husband, Jerry, co-created the “Going Home Workshop” based on their family’s experience in re-entry. They have led hundreds of inmates through Going Home in prisons throughout Alabama, and taught Going Home to prison personnel and others at state and national conferences.