StoryLink was born out of a desire to strengthen the bonds between incarcerated persons and their children and to
provide opportunities for Christian witness.
During a typical prison visit, inmates who are 90 days free of behavior violations select a storybook for a child or
children at home, write a personal message to them in the front of the book, and are recorded reading the book in a
one-on-one interaction with a StoryLink volunteer.
After the visit, our volunteers mail the storybook and audio recording to the child's home at no cost to the
incarcerated person or their family. The inmate gets to tell their little one on the next phone call home to keep an
eye on the mailbox for an exciting delivery!
Prison residents enrolled in our program grow in their faith, self-esteem and literacy during each monthly
interaction with our volunteers. Children at home receive regular, comforting connection with a parent who is
absent from family routines.
StoryLink is in high demand at Missouri’s prisons - at one of the institutions we visit, anywhere from 70-90
participants are served each month. That's a lot of books!
