Pure Heart Foundation, a Detroit-based, non-profit organization, is making a major dent in the lives of children and youth impacted by their parent’s incarceration.
Currently, 2.7 million children in the United States have a parent incarcerated. In Detroit, four out of 10 children have a parent incarcerated; in Michigan, one out of 10 children have a parent in prison or jail.
These impacted children are seven times more likely to also wind up in the criminal justice system, according to statistics.
Sherelle Hogan, CEO, and founder (of an organization that also serves across the state) was one of those children growing up locally.
As a victim of parental incarceration, she encountered many childhood trauma as both of her parents faced incarceration at different points in her life.
“Serving children of incarcerated parents is the reason I’m so passionate about this work,” Hogan said adding that being a child of an incarcerated parent (at the age of 6) touched her and led her to where she is today.
Her father was also incarcerated at the age of seven and after he was released when she was 10 years old he passed away not long after.
“Understanding the emotional toll, barriers of housing instability, not being able to identify with peers, experiencing abuse, and so many different challenges I faced is why I want to create programs and address silent struggles,” Hogan said, adding that a significant portion of her formative years was shaped by her parent’s multiple incarcerations. “The first time (my mother was jailed) I was too young to understand what was going on. … I tried to convince myself it wasn’t my fault. Deep down I knew it wasn’t my fault.”
Hogan added that her mother was once convicted for two years, which she described as the “long two years” of her life.
“I felt every day that she was away,” she said, adding that she doesn’t define her mother by her mistakes. “She’s more than her incarceration and past.”
The Pure Heart Foundation, in operation for seven years, is holding a private ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday, March 26 at Mary Grove Conservancy at 8425 W. McNichols Road in Detroit.
“Through the amazing dedication and support of our community, partners, and team, we are proud to announce that we will be opening our new space, The Scholar Center this Saturday,” Hogan said
This new space will be the first and only space in Michigan that is dedicated to serving children of incarcerated parents that provides a multipronged holistic model, according to the Pure Heart Foundation’s Facebook page.
“The significant thing about this is the first in Michigan (of) opening a center serving children of incarcerated parents,” Hogan said. “Our scholars now have a place to call their own. We are so excited to unveil The Scholars Center to our scholars and supporters.”
Tour dates will be announced of the new center, Hogan posted online recently, adding that children are receptive to the program, and since 2015, over 2,500 children have gone through the program.
“A scholar said to me, ‘Pure Heart saved my life. If you survived this Ms. Sherelle, then so can I,” Hogan said on her website. “In that moment, I fully understood the power in mentorship, service, and the impact of my purpose.”
Through her program, Hogan has supplied scholarships, jobs, counseling, and a community of awareness that has not only provided a voice for the voiceless but has restored a sense of self-worth for everyone who enters the program.
Victoria Henry, 18, who went through the Pure Heart Foundation, said in a WDIV new report that she was able to graduate from high school at 16 years old.
“It felt good because don’t nobody wanna be in school for a long period of time. So, if I can knock two years out in one year, I’m like, ‘Yup, let me do that,’” Henry said in the report, adding that her father and stepfather were both jailed for a long time, which affected her.
“People don’t really understand, like, how much a child can hurt too. The stuff they see their parents go through — they don’t understand it affects the child,” Henry said in the report, adding that tomorrow is a new day.
“I actually wanna open up a daycare and a hair salon,” Henry said in the report. “I appreciate her so much because the work that she’s doing, it is an impact and you can see it.”
To decrease generational incarceration, including “the school to prison pipeline” and creating a new cycle of hope, love, and financial sustainability, according to the Pure Heart Foundation.
Pure Heart Foundation fostered a partnership with numerous community organizations.
To address the national incarceration crisis, President Joe Biden made a recent proclamation for March as “Second Chance Month.”
Second Chance Month focuses on prevention, reentry, and social support, which “can ensure that America is a land of second chances and opportunity for all people,” Biden noted in his proclamation.
“America’s criminal justice system must offer meaningful opportunities for redemption and rehabilitation. After incarcerated individuals serve their time, they should have the opportunity to fully reintegrate into society,” Biden said in his proclamation.
The Scholars Center for Children of Incarcerated Parents will embrace and empower children to break the cycle of generational involvement in the criminal justice system. The center will cater to the four out of 10 children in Detroit, who have a parent incarcerated and 10% of children in Michigan have a parent incarcerated totaling 228,000 children.
For more information visit https://www.pureheartfoundation.org/.
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