Solidarity Letter Writing Campaign

We are writing letters to every single person incarcerated in Vermont and New Hampshire, including people who the Department of Corrections (DOC) has sent to out-of-state facilities.

These are personalized, one-time letters meant to:

1. Show support to each person inside and remind them that they are not forgotten.
2. Flood prisons with letters to show the DOC that it cannot isolate incarcerated people from the outside world, that incarcerated people are not disposable, and that mistreatment is unacceptable.
3. Make sure people incarcerated know about several FREE resources available to them: Prison Health News; the ability to request a penpal from us; National Lawyers Guild's Jailhouse Lawyer Program; a subscription to Critical Resistance's tri-annual publication The Abolitionist; a subscription to In the Belly; the ability for them to share their messages, art, and experiences with a wider audience through this blog; and their right to vote (only in VT).
   

We are looking for groups and individuals to help us meet our goal of writing to the 1,400 people incarcerated in Vermont and the 2,400 people incarcerated in New Hampshire.

Can you write five letters? Are you a part of a group willing to organize your members to send out 50 letters? 100? Send us a message using the sidebar or email us at letterbyletternhvt@gmail.com to let us know how many letters you or your group can write. We'll send you a list of names and addresses!

 

You can also support our solidarity letter writing campaign by support any of the incredible groups and publications listed above whose resources we reference in the solidarity letters: Prison Health News, Critical Resistance, and In the Belly (patreon or gofundme)

Here are a few guidelines to help you get started sending letters:

1. Set a boundary for this letter. Let the recipient know that you will only be writing to them one time, but that they have the option of being added to a list of people inside that would like to have a penpal outside. This means, do not ask questions or otherwise initiate conversation. We are not setting up a procedure for this person to write back to you and we do not want to mislead them that this is possible. Please use our PO Box as the return address. If you want to be a penpal and have on-going correspondence with someone incarcerated, we have a separate system for that! Sign up here!

2. Make sure to add the following information to your letter. This is one of the main goals of this project—to let people inside know of rights and information that are available to them. You can also print out this resource sheet (which includes all of the following information) and include it as an enclosure to accompany your letter.

• Tell them that they can sign up for Prison Health News, a free newsletter written in part by and for people in prison to share info and tips on physical and emotional health. To receive the newsletter, they just need to write a letter to: Prison Health News; 4722 Baltimore Ave.; Philadelphia, PA 19143 and provide their Name, DOC ID and Address.
• Let them know that they can request a copy of Turn It Up: Staying Strong Inside a single-issue magazine and resource guide for people incarcerated living with HIV, hepatitis, diabetes, and other chronic health conditions, by writing to: Sero Project; PO Box 1233; Milford, PA 18337.
• Let them know that they can request a subscription or submit essays, poems, and stories to In the Belly, an abolitionist journal by and for people incarcerated and their loved ones by writing to: In the Belly Journal; PO Box 67; Ithaca, NY 14851.
• Let them know that they can become a Jailhouse Lawyer member of the National Lawyers Guild, (without prior legal training) for free by writing to National Lawyers Guild; 132 Nassau St. #922; New York NY 10038.
• Let them know that they can request a long-term plutonic penpal or share their essays, poetry, or art that they want to publicize to the outside world by writing a letter to: Letter by Letter NH/VT; PO Box 448; Norwich VT 05055. (This is the return address you should put on the envelope and the first page of your letter.) Either handwrite or print this penpal request form for them to fill out, and include it with your letter! Let them know that it takes us 1-2 months to find a match, so if they're leaving the facility in the next few months this program might not be the best fit for them.
• Let them know they can sign up for free for Critical Resistance's tri-annual publication The Abolitionist by writing us back at Letter by Letter NH/VT; PO Box 448; Norwich VT 05055 and letting us know they want to receive free issues of The Abolitionist.
• *Vermont Only* Remind people inside that they can still vote. They can only vote via absentee ballot in the place they lived prior to being incarcerated. Do not advocate for any specific political parties or candidates in your letter.

3. Follow the regulations that the government sets about how to format and send letters. 

            DO: 

• Use plain white or lined paper and type or write with black ink.
• Number each page out of the total. Ex: 1/3, 2/3, 3/3
• Use a plain white envelope. 
• Put the return address (*our PO Box, not your address*) on the envelope AND put it on the first page of your letter, because people who are incarcerated don’t always get to keep the envelope. 

                            Letter By Letter NH/VT

                            PO Box 448

                            Norwich, VT 05055

     

• Label the person receiving the letter's address as follows: 

                    Recipient's Name #Number

                    Cell/ Bunk Location (if given)

                    Facility Name

                    PO Box # or Street Address

                    City, State Zip

            DO NOT: 

• Do not mail pictures, photographs, cut outs, magazines, postcards, books.  
• Do not use staples or paper clips, and do not include additional envelopes, stamps, or blank paper inside your letter.
• Do not discuss criminalized activity or why they are incarcerated, etc.
• Do not try to recruit them to your religion or political party. 

Here is a Sample Letter to give you ideas!

Dear (Recipient’s Name),

I am writing as part of a team of people sending a letter to everyone in the Vermont [or NH] prison system to let you know that there are people around the country who are thinking about you, who care about you, who are rooting for you while you travel through difficult times. Please be encouraged to every extent possible.

We also wanted to let you know about some resources available to you, in case you're interested. 

There's a free newsletter called Prison Health News, written in part by and for people in prison to share health information and tips. If you want to subscribe, send your name and address to: Prison Health News; 4722 Baltimore Ave.; Philadelphia, PA 19143. 

Another free journal you can subscribe to and submit essays/poetry/art to, written by and for people inside and their loved ones trying to build community despite the isolation that comes with incarceration, can be reached by writing to: In the Belly Journal; PO Box 67; Ithaca, NY 14851.

There's also a single-issue magazine called Turn it Up: Staying Strong Inside written for incarcerated people living with HIV, hepatitis, diabetes, and other chronic health issues that you can request by writing to The Sero Project; PO Box 1233; Milford, PA 18337.

If you want to join a network of legal scholars, receive the magazine Guild Notes, and if the pandemic ever lets up get a copy of the Jailhouse Lawyers Handbook (stuck in storage at the moment) you can write to the National Lawyers Guild and ask them to make you a Jailhouse Lawyer member. The NLG's address is: National Lawyers Guild; 132 Nassau St. #922; New York, NY 10038.

Would you be interested in writing back and forth with someone? There is a network of people on the outside who are interested in starting a platonic penpal friendship with someone inside. It takes about a month or two to find you a match, so this program might not be a good fit for you if you'll be leaving in the next few months. I personally won't be able to write to you again, but if you want a penpal, please fill out the "Penpal Request Form" included in this letter and send it back to Letter by Letter NH/VT. Letter by Letter NH/VT; PO Box 448; Norwich VT 05055.

If you want to receive a free magazine every 4 months called The Abolitionist, which is put together by a prison abolitionist collective called Critical Resistance, write us back (at Letter by Letter NH/VT, same address as above) and let us know that you want us to sign you up for the Abolitionist. We'll fill the form out for you online and put your name/address/DOC number so they know where to send it.

You can also write to us if you have an essay/story/poem/drawing you'd like to share with the outside world. We'll publish it on the Letter by Letter NH/VT website. At this time unfortunately we can’t pay you for your submission, but at least we can offer a grateful audience and a place to amplify your perspective. 

Sending you warmth and strength,

[Your Name]