For newcomers to UCG, the Mommy Reads program is a ministry that collects new children’s books and takes them to the women’s prison at the Florida Women’s Reception Center (FWRC) just north of Ocala. We record mothers and grandmothers there reading the books, and then send the books and recordings to their children on the outside. We began the program in March 2012 and until COVID, we had sent more than 3500 books and recordings to children in almost every FL county, 37 different states, and 4 foreign countries.

March 2020 was the last time that we were able to visit the prison, due to the pandemic. For a number of months, the prison was completely closed to outside visitors. With the availability of vaccinations in 2021, we were hopeful that we might be able to resume. Unfortunately, political factors have delayed our ability to do so, including the fact that the prison system stopped publishing data on the number of cases in the system, and refuses to release information regarding the percentage of incarcerated women and staff who are vaccinated. In addition, they recently instituted a policy of optional masking for inmates and staff and told us that we would not be allowed to require masking as a condition of participation in our program. The lack of transparency about what is really happening, and the refusal to require common sense public health measures, make it too risky for us to send volunteers to the prison at this time.

We hope that we will be able to resume the program in the future, if and when overall caseloads return to “green” levels. We will put out a call for volunteers at that time. The women at the FWRC went for a year with no visits from family. Most of them live in open bay dorms with 80+ other women, sleeping head-to-head with other individuals. Please keep these vulnerable women and their children in your thoughts as the COVID crisis continues.