UU Prison Ministry of Illinois

UU Prison Ministry of Illinois Our Mission
We equip Unitarian Universalists in Illinois to ​transform institutions and support people harmed by the prison industrial complex.

The UU Prison Ministry Initiative will foster connections between UU congregations and Illinois prisoners. We will engage congregations in education about mass incarceration and provide advocacy opportunities to take action in support of human rights, reduced incarceration, and removing barriers to successful community reentry. We hope to strengthen understanding of mass incarceration, the foster

care to prison pipeline and school to prison pipeline, barriers to successful community reentry, and the role of racial injustice in mass incarceration. We hope to launch the Prison Ministry after the planning year, in July, 2016. Goals: The three main goals of this ministry are: (1) To build welcoming congregations open to sharing fellowship and resources with people coming home from incarceration. (2) To work side by side with those affected by mass incarceration to win policy change, reducing incarceration and building restorative justice policy and practice. We will work with Community Renewal Society and Unitarian Universalist Advocacy Network of Illinois. (3) To create a UU ministry presence in two Illinois prisons (one men’s and one women’s) with a part-time minister, beginning in July 2016.

A beautiful account of resistance in Chicago that began long before this time through community neighborhood organizing ...
06/02/2026

A beautiful account of resistance in Chicago that began long before this time through community neighborhood organizing like CopWatch in Rogers Park.

A record of resistance in Chicagoland

Our legislators have power of the purse strings with prisons! Sign this to remind them of the word we dream of!
05/28/2026

Our legislators have power of the purse strings with prisons! Sign this to remind them of the word we dream of!

Urge your state lawmakers to support the removal of the $900million line item for the rebuilds of Stateville and Logan Correctional Centers from the Capital Development Budget this legislative session. This rebuild proposal or “RISE IDOC”, is a high-cost, low-impact project, it will not solve th...

05/20/2026

Thanks to a tremendous outpouring of opposition from community members and organizations, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office withdrew its request to purchase BriefCam for monitoring people incarcerated in Cook County Jail from the County Board’s Technology Committee meeting agenda. This fight is far from over, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office has indicated that they plan to bring this proposal to the board in June.

Read more on our blog: https://endmoneybond.org/plan-to-use-ai-to-surveil-cook-county-jail-stalled/

Connection is resistance. 💛💻 With the free Education app Edovo on IL prison tablets, UUPMI will bring compassionate theo...
05/15/2026

Connection is resistance. 💛

💻 With the free Education app Edovo on IL prison tablets, UUPMI will bring compassionate theology, spiritual care, and educational resources to people in prison who often have little access to liberal religious perspectives.
📚 Through our Literary Bridges Project, people inside and outside prison walls engage in a shared book study experience that builds empathy, reflection, and human connection.

Together, these programs help move people from isolation toward belonging.

Support Bridges of Belonging and help us expand this work across Illinois prisons.

https://givebutter.com/Bridges_of_Belonging



Help us reach our $5,000 crowdfunding goal this month to support our inside members.

https://givebutter.com/Bridges_of_Belonging

AI-driven carceral 💩 proposed for Cook County jail. We join with friends in the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice in...
05/12/2026

AI-driven carceral 💩 proposed for Cook County jail. We join with friends in the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice in opposition to AI video surveillance in Cook County jail:

Sheriff Tom Dart is quietly lobbying the Cook County board for an AI jail security system and nearly $1 million for license plate readers.

We must defend pretrial fairness and join others in supporting pretrial success for our communities!
05/06/2026

We must defend pretrial fairness and join others in supporting pretrial success for our communities!

The SAFE-T Act is once again making headlines after a man on pretrial release was charged for the murder of Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew.

05/06/2026
Banning physical mail does not address substance abuse disorders! It just tightens the grip of isolation and punishment.
05/04/2026

Banning physical mail does not address substance abuse disorders! It just tightens the grip of isolation and punishment.

The switch to digitized mail for incarcerated people has had little impact on the drug exposures the policy sought to stop, according to new data from the Illinois Department of Corrections.

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1330 Ridge Ave
Evanston, IL
60201

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