Western Prison Project (WPP) is a regional effort, comprised of the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming and Nevada, that advocates for prison reform to reduce the criminal justice system's reliance on incarceration.

WPP's executive director, Brigette Sarabi, founded the group with funding from the nonprofit Western States Center in Portland, Oregon, after the imprisonment of her oldest daughter, who was addicted to heroin. In the winter edition of WPP's quarterly newsletter, Justice Matters, Sarabi writes, "The issue of prisons and criminal justice policy...never quite rose to the top of my personal agenda until it was in my face...I asked a simple question: Is there a need for an organization to help build a more organized, grassroots movement for prison and criminal justice reform in this region?"

Today, WPP is an independent nonprofit, funded by partner organizations and donations from members. WPP focuses its energy on community organization and mobilization through advocacy for criminal justice reform. Through legislative advocacy, WPP's members -- primarily prisoners, former prisoners, and their families -- work to increase the amount of funding for prisons and prisoner re-entry services.

When legislators threaten to cut funding for alcohol and drug programs in prisons, Sarabi explains, WPP hears about it firsthand, and fights to stop it. In 2001, Oregon legislators proposed a $9 million budget cut that would mean the end of all inmate activity programs -- including Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings -- as well as other inmate education and treatment programs.

WPP, in an alliance with a union of correctional officers, identified cost-saving measures that would render the program cuts unnecessary. They initiated a call and letter writing campaign and organized testimony from recovering ex-offenders who had benefited from the programs, one of whom was invited to relate his story to the Senate.

As a result of WPP's hard work, legislators unanimously supported restoring the $9 million in prison program funding. "We had legislators crying," Sarabi says. "We saved those programs, [by] appealing to policymakers with that voice of experience and having all of our numbers right."

Another WPP goal is public education, which it accomplishes through its website, www.westernprisonproject.org; its recently published book of prison statistics, The Prison Index; the Justice Matters newsletter; and members' speaking engagements. WPP also has a technical assistance and capacity building arm that partners with smaller grassroots criminal justice groups to assist them with basic needs such as bookkeeping and campaigning.

One of WPP's current efforts is the VOICE Project, a voter registration drive aiming to educate prisoners on their voting rights and prevent disenfranchisement.

The Ms. Foundation, one of the sponsors of WPP, presented Sarabi with the esteemed Gloria Award last May for her activism.

Sarabi's ambitious and successful efforts prove that taking action and demanding that your voice be heard can make a real impact. She encourages others to get involved, because "without a push from the grass roots, these problems will be ignored."

For more information, contact Western Prison Project at info@westernprisonproject.org or visit www.westernprisonproject.org.