Things to Consider

Why do we write? 

We write because we want to build meaningful connections with the people in Hawaiʻi’s jails and prisons with a goal to work towards abolishing the carceral system that violently holds our community members.  We believe that connection to the outside world is vital to dismantling the carceral system because it interrupts the erasure and isolation of our incarcerated community members.

What is my capacity? 

For many incarcerated people, receiving one or two letters from someone promising to correspond regularly but failing to follow up with further correspondence can be incredibly difficult. Being a penpal doesn’t have to be an intense time commitment; letters can be as long or as short as you want them to be. Please be upfront about the regularity that you will be able to write. We suggest writing at least twice per month. If your capacity is only once a month, let them know. At this time, we have restricted our outside penpals to selecting two incarcerated penpals to help ensure that frequent communication with one or two penpals occurs.

What will we encounter? 

You will likely hear a broad range of experiences about the prison industrial complex, and there will be emotionally challenging moments as you build a relationship with your penpal(s). It’s essential to have support systems to deal with the stories of a trauma you might hear. It is also beneficial to share these revelations with your social circles to deconstruct what you learn and how you might participate unwittingly in the system.  We succeed when we navigate this world together.

Important Things to Know

Reply letters might take a while - Some of your penpals reply letters might be considerably delayed, one of the infinite awful aspects of prison. If you don’t hear back from the person you’re corresponding with within 4 to 6 weeks, they may have been transferred or released. Puʻuhonua penpal volunteers attempt to update our incarcerated members’ addresses regularly; those updates will be reflected monthly on this penpal site, so look at your Current Penpals information. If this is the case, email puuhonuapenpal@gmail.com to help locate the correspondent’s current contact information.

1. Openness to various identities  and lived experience - Mail Call often happens in public spaces in the prison. When someone hears their name called by a prison guard during Mail Call it is a reminder that people on the outside care about that person. It is also a message to the guards and other incarcerated people that this person has support and is not forgotten. This can be a vital harm reduction strategy for people who are locked up, especially queer and transgender folks.

2. Building meaningful relationships - Do not speak down to, discriminate against, shame, or condescend your penpals. We are about building relationships and validating that our struggles as people of color, activists, organizers, sex workers, youth workers, immigrants, anti-capitalist, trans, queer, gender-nonconforming people are intricately connected with prison abolition and liberation. Please be conscious and aware of power dynamics and actively seek support around the acknowledgment and eradication of these dynamics in your correspondence.

3. Set Boundaries - Remember to be transparent about your own boundaries, and respecting boundaries that your penpal has set. Please voice any concerns you have with your penpal in a loving and affirming way, and try to receive feedback that they give you. If for any reason you are not comfortable, or can no longer engage with your penpal, please let puuhonuapenpal@gmail.com know.

4. Romantic or sexual letters - There might be some letters which feel flirtatious or sexual. Your safety and comfort are your own, so if you’re okay with sexy letters, keep writing them! If you aren’t, please respond respectfully and firmly to your penpal.

Jails

The Department of Public Safety’s Corrections Department oversees the following four jails. Hawaiʻi jails cage people for pretrial and short-term sentence misdemeanant crimes. Jails are locally situated on each major island. The jails also cage people who have almost completed their felony sentences, and are “soon” returning to the community.

• Hawaiʻi Community Correctional Center Mail Rules

• Kauaʻi Community Correctional Center Mail Rules

• Maui Community Correctional Center Mail Rules (pg 9-11)

• Oʻahu Community Correctional Center Mail Rules

Prisons

The Department of Public Safety’s Corrections Department oversees the following four prisons. These prisons operate to deprive people of freedom for long-term sentence crimes. The state currently deports over 1,100 people to a private prison in Arizona.

• Halawa Correctional Facility (Oʻahu) Mail Rules

• Waiawa Correctional Facility (Oʻahu) Mail Rules

• Kulani Correctional Facility (Hawaiʻi Island) Mail Rules

• Women’s Community Correctional Center (Oʻahu) Mail Rules

• Saguaro Correctional Center (Arizona) Mail Rules