PBS News Hour
The U.S. spends billions to lock people up, but very little to help them once they’re released
Donna Hylton began a nonprofit in January 2020, eight years after coming out of the New York prison system where she had spent nearly three decades.
“I started my journey while I was inside,” she said, explaining that she worked with other women in prison to create programs geared toward their needs.
She called her program ‘A Little Piece of Light,’ aimed at helping women of color like her who feel invisible when it comes to targeted reentry services.
“It’s not easy because no one is listening. We’re an afterthought,” she said. “The conversations are dominated by men and their issues and concerns.”
While the federal imprisonment rate for Black women has declined over the last decade, the incarceration rate for Black women was still almost double the rate for white women in 2019.
