Extended Family’s mission is “To offer help and inspire hope.” Too many family members are living with the mental, physical, and emotional struggles that come with having a loved one who is incarcerated. We are committed to helping these families cope with the stress, anger, and other emotions that come with incarceration. Extended Family programs provide tools to help all family members manage the mental and emotional challenges and resource information to address the physical hardships.
Our purpose is to teach family members of the incarcerated how to successfully adjust to a new way of life. Extended Family is dedicated to teaching all family members to make healthy lifestyle choices, so they can improve their quality of life emotionally, mentally, and physically. Our programs are designed to build self-esteem, ease feelings of shame, ease isolation, decrease stress, address anger issues, and strengthen communication skills. We are working to provide immediate support for these families in the present, and to break the cycle of incarceration in the future.
Extended Family fulfills our mission and purpose by serving every family member dealing with incarceration. For adult family members, we offer a comprehensive Resource Database and Helpful Hints for navigating the prison experience, including caring for the home and family while maintaining a relationship with the incarcerated loved one. In addition to the help available on our website, www.extendedfamilyhelp.org, family members who call or email Extended Family staff receive individual help from someone who shares a similar experience and understands.
For children with an incarcerated loved one, we offer two programs. Extended Family for Kids is an evidence-based curriculum for children ages 5-18. Older children, in grades 7-12, may participate in Extended Family for Kids or Extended Family Leadership Academy, a second step towards success program to help students be successful in school and plan for their futures.
One of our newest programs, Extended Family for Life, is designed for incarcerated mothers and provides character development for them to use in their own lives, to share with fellow inmates, and to use as a tool to strengthen the bond with their children. For prisoners nearing release, we offer the “Going Home” workshop, a series that addresses the challenges of returning to family life after prison.
Extended Success for Life is a mentoring program for returning citizens, those leaving jail or prison and reintegrating into their families and communities. This program is available for men who are ready to “Dream, Learn, and Live” by completing a series of twenty lessons, one lesson per week, to help them set goals for themselves and reach them. This pilot program is available for men returning to Cherokee, Etowah, and DeKalb counties, and will hopefully expand to include more counties in the future.
For more information about Extended Family programs, or for information on bringing our programs into your community, visit our website. Fulfilling our mission and purpose is helping change lives, one family at a time.
