Insight Pt. 2: Susan G. Komen Greater Philadelphia More Than Pink Walk, F.A.C.T.

I’m a strong believer in redemption because as I often say – every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.  That’s why I devote so much time to addressing criminal justice and reform. I’ve spent many years working with lifers first at Graterford and then at SCI Phoenix where I’ve met some extraordinary men. Some are out like former juvenile lifers Pulitzer Prize winner Suave Gonzalez or Gani who has devoted his life to working on criminal justice reform. Or Dawan Packy Williams and Rickey Duncan who I met shortly after their release are leaders at NOMO a celebrated program that works with youth and returning citizens.  So today I speak to two folks from the external team for the FACT Program – Father’s and Children Together – designed and started by men behind the walls to strengthen the bond between fathers and father figures and their kids. I speak to Darlene Brown Freeman, VP of the FACT Experience Keturah Moore President of the external board of FACT.   https://www.factexperience.org/ 

First, on Mother’s Day the Susan G. Komen Foundation is hosting the Greater Philadelphia More Than Pink Walk - an opportunity for everyone to get involved and support Komen’s mission to save more lives from breast cancer. I speak to Brandie Engelberger, Executive Director in Pennsylvania at Susan G. Komen   www. komen.org/PhiladelphiaWalk

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Good morning, and welcome to Insight, a show about empowering our community.
I'm Lorraine Ballard Morrel. I'm LorraineBallad Morrel. I'm a strong believer in
redemption because, as I often say, every saint has a past and every
sinner has a future. That's whyI devote so much time to addressing criminal
justice reform. I've spent many yearsworking with lifers, first at Greaterfort and

(00:25):
then at SCI Phoenix, where I'vemet some extraordinary men. Some are out
like former juvenile lifers Pulitzer Prize winnerSuave Gonzales or Gani, who has devoted
his life to working on criminal justicereform, or Dewan Packy Williams and Ricky
Duncan, who I met shortly aftertheir release, who are leaders at NOMO,
a celebrated program that works with youthand returning citizens. Not to mention

(00:49):
those who are still behind the walls, including Sam Magic Brown and so many
others. So today I speak totwo folks from the external team of the
Fact Fathers and Children Together, designedand initiated by men behind the walls to
strengthen the bond between fathers and fatherfigures and their kids. But first Susan

(01:11):
G. Coleman, through its pioneeringwork in breast cancer research, advocacy and
support, has made significant strides inthe fight against breast cancer. That work
is not possible without the support ofvolunteers and donors. One way we can
help is participating in the Greater PhiladelphiaMore Than Pink Walk on May twelfth.

(01:32):
Joining us right now is Brandy Engelberger, executive director in Pennsylvania at Susan G.
Cohman. Thank you so much forjoining us here today, and before
we get into the specifics of thewalk, let's talk more about the organization
itself. Certainly the organization has popularizedpink as a signature color for breast cancer

(01:56):
and a pink ribbon, but certainlymuch more than that. What are some
of the services and benefits that youprovide at Susan G. Comen Sure well,
very excited to be here today,Thank you, and yes to your
point, a little bit more thanpink. And that is why our walk
is the More Than Pink Walk,to really talk about all the wonderful things

(02:19):
that we are doing that are morethan just building awareness. So Susan G.
Coleman, our mission is to savelives by meeting the most critical needs
in our communities, and investing andbreakthrough research to prevent and cure breast cancer.
Our vision, of course, isa world without breast cancer, and
the way we go about accomplishing thatis again more than pink. We really

(02:43):
take a three hundred and sixty degreeapproach, so we're focusing on all areas
including research, care, community,and action. In terms of that,
we are funding research to better detect, prevent, treat, and cure all
forms of breast can answer. Andthen in terms of care, we're really
working to eliminate barriers to care andprovide access to vital breast health and breast

(03:07):
cancer services. We provide support,information and guidance to survivors as well as
to their caregivers who who you know, also need that support as they navigate
their breast cancer care journey. Andthen we're also advocating to influence federal,
state, and local policy to ensureresearch progress and protections for all patients.

(03:30):
So in terms of how we dothat, especially you know here in the
Pennsylvania area, we do have directpatient service. Anybody anywhere across the country
really, but in Pennsylvania they cancall Coman's Patient care center at one eight
seven seven go coman again. That'sone eight seven seven go coman and here

(03:53):
again. People living with breast cancer, people you know, thinking about prevention
of breast cancer as well as thecaregivers. They can be connected to services
that they need. So this couldbe mammograms, diagnostic imaging, follow up
care as well as emotional support thatis much needed as well. I just

(04:13):
wanted to say point out that overthe last forty years have been so many
tremendous advances when it comes to breastcancer. I recall maybe a little more
than forty years ago, a womanwould go in for a biopsy and because
of the way that things were handledback then, they could wake up with
a full mastectomy. Now things sincethen have become much different in terms of

(04:40):
how people are given more options andchoices that they're now lumpectomies and there's certainly
lots of treatments that have occurred.So there have been so many real advances,
haven't there when it comes to addressingbreast cancer. Absolutely great impact over
the past many years. We've seensince nineteen eighty nine a forty one percent

(05:03):
decrease immortality rates and another to yourpoint, too. It's also now something
that people talk about a little bitmore openly. Right to your point,
people would go through that and theyalso wouldn't even really talk about it.
So the conversation has started, whichis helping other people know, you know,
how to take those preventive measures andhow to really advocate for their own

(05:25):
house right. So Susan she Comanhas been instrumental in raising awareness about breast
cancer and opening up a space forus to have open conversations about something that
used to be not spoken about ornot discussed and not shared between those who
are experiencing that breast cancer journey andthe rest of the world. Now,
the Philadelphia More Than Pink Walk isa chance for everybody to get involved and

(05:48):
support Coman's mission to save more livesfrom breast cancer. So tell us for
all the specifics, what do weneed to know? Yeah, we are
very excited for our upcoming More inPink Walk in Greater Philadelphia. Truly,
everything that we've been talking about thatwe do in our community and across the
country is made possible by the generoussupport of donors and partners through events like

(06:12):
the More Than Pink Walk. Sopeople that have an interest and a passion
for that can not too late toget involved. Our Greater Philadelphia More Than
Pink Walk will take place on Maytwelfth, which is actually Sunday, Mother's
Day. It has been a traditionfor many years that we host it then
and it's a great opportunity right forfamilies to come out either to honor or

(06:33):
remember mothers, to think about daughtersand you know how you want them to
live in a world without breast cancer. And so events like the Greater Philadelphia
More Than Pink Walk allow us toraise money to keep Homan's mission going.
The event start doors open at eightthirty, so we will have folks coming

(06:54):
out as early as eight thirty,and we have some great partners and sponsors
and vendors that they'll be able tovisit. We couldn't do it without our
great partners. Bank of America,Walgreens and nev Artists are our national partners.
Locally, we're so excited to haveour host sponsor, Parks Casino.
So the event actually takes place inBen Salem at Parks Casino and Racing and

(07:18):
the actual walk it's pretty cool.It's actually around the horse track, so
people can expect it's about a milelong, but they can do as many
laps as they want. And inaddition to the walk, like I said,
we will have some great partners andvendors there with some giveaways and some
games. Independence Blue Cross will besponsoring our VIP tent. So this is

(07:41):
a place where we really want toacknowledge and recognize the folks that are going
above and beyond and really raising fundsfor the organization, so there will be
a special area for them there.We have a really great Hope Village,
which is our area for our survivorsand our thrivers people with metasatic breast cancer
to not only be recognized and celebrated, and you know, there's some giveaways

(08:05):
and stuff, but I think areally great aspect of that tent is that
people are meeting other people who oftenhave similar stories. Maybe we're diagnosed around
the same time, maybe you know, getting the same type of treatment,
and I think that's really important forthem. And then folks can visit tents
from our sponsors, iHeart, ofcourse, Alliance Cancer Specialists, Jefferson Health,

(08:30):
Pico Shop, Rate and WA WAHwill all be on site and teams
are welcome to come out and reallymake a day of it. You know,
the event starts at eight thirty.We will kick off the actual walk
around ten and then some folks canyou know, we'll stay, make a
picnic and make a day out ofit. I think that for those who
have not ever attended any one ofthe Susan C. Coleman Walks, I

(08:52):
have to say that it is trulyan incredible experience, the solidarity the sisterhood.
Of course, there are men toowho also have breast cancer as well,
but the vast majority are women andto see survivors, people who are
also there to honor the memory ofa loss of a loved one, and

(09:13):
those who are currently in that breastcancer journey. It's just a wonderful event
to really bring everyone together for sucha great cause. So if people would
like to register for the Greater Philadelphiamore than Pink Walk, where do they
go? Yep, they can dothat right online at no costs. There's
no cost to register at www dotcoman dot org backslash Philadelphia Walk, and

(09:39):
we will also be able to takeregistration's day up. We do encourage people
to register early online, but theycan come out day of and register as
well. Well, there's probably noone out there in our listening audience that
hasn't been touched by breast cancer,whether they are on that breast cancer journey
or know someone close to them.Breast cancer is something that is impact so

(10:01):
many women in particular. This isyour chance to do something about it.
Become a supporter of Coman, theSusan G. Coman Foundation, the Greater
Philadelphia More than Pink walk again.Sunday, May twelfth, Mother's Day at
nine thirty is when it begins atPark Casino and Racing. We'd like to
thank you so much for joining ushere today. Brandy Engelberger, executive director

(10:22):
in Pennsylvania at Susan G. Cohmyann, thanks a lot, Thank you so
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Cancer dot org slash colon cancer oneof my favorite programs of all time,

(13:56):
and I have come back to ittime and time again. On the rad
is the fact program Fathers and ChildrenTogether. It originated at Greater effort,
Maximum sci Greater effort, and itwas created by a cohort of lifers and
those who are living behind the walls, a great effort. It's moved on

(14:16):
to sci Phoenix and it continues tocreate this great program that connects men behind
the walls with their children in away that truly increases the bond between them
and helps break that pattern of thebirth to incarceration pipeline. So what we're

(14:37):
doing today is we're going to doan interview about the latest cohort, a
Fact, and also about this reallywonderful new book, actually two of them
that's based on the Fact Experience.Joining us right now is Darlene Brown Freeman,
she's vice president of the Fact Experience, and Katura Moore, who's president
of the External Board of Fact.Darling, and I'm going to start with

(15:00):
you and I kind of summarized Fact, but give us a little more detail
as to what the Fact Program is. Fake Experience program, as you said,
connects the children with their fathers whoare behind the walls. And we
start with the twelve week is atwelve week program starting with a six week

(15:20):
special of the fathers going through anextensive parent extensive parenting classes. After they
go through their six week program,then we bring on the children for six
weeks and they do different sessions,the air it out session, the arts
and craft session. So yes,they grow a bond over time. They

(15:41):
graduate after the twelve weeks and fromthere they go on to have different meetings
and bi monthly meetings after that.Right, So what kind of difference do
you think the FACT program makes inthe lives of the men behind the walls
and the children. Okay, sothere comes a time when the children to
have their parents. But of coursethose fifteen minute calls or the hour to

(16:06):
three hour visit that you have withyour family, you don't get the time
to have that one on one bondtime with the child and the father.
So this gives the experience to gosix saturdays for three hours to sit with
your father or grandfather and build abond. Yeah, so they get to
ask questions, They get to askanything they want and have answers. Right,

(16:26):
it's about strengthening that bond of intimacybetween a father and their children.
Yes, or not necessarily fathers asyou mentioned, grandfathers and in some cases
I believe like uncles are extended familythat really they've been sort of that male
father figure for that child. Yes, yeah, great, Well Coutura,

(16:47):
I'm gonna have you step in andtalk a bit about how the program has
evolved over time. It's, Ialways said, one of the first ones,
and I was actually part of theplanning when they were just getting started.
So it's pretty amazing to see overtime how this program continues to expand.
It really is really is a modelfor prisons. It should be in

(17:11):
every prison, don't you think.I think so. I think it should
be in all prisons nationwide because thisprogram is very impactful and as evolving over
time, it's come to where politiciansare invited, people that sponsor, people
connected to volunteer give up their freetime and also just want to pay it

(17:34):
forward, are invited to the graduationceremony, which is a culmination of what
Darling was speaking about about the twelveweek extensive program. That's evolvement, that's
impactful. I'm just excited to bea part of it. Just to follow
up, I was at the lastgraduation ceremony and of course not a dry

(17:55):
eye in the house because it's somoving, because there's this once time in
this graduation ceremony where a child sitsin a chair kind of set apart,
and then the dad comes up andthey speak to each other. Can you
describe that and what that's like.I believe the session that you're talking about
is what you mean to me.What you mean to me is where the

(18:18):
child sits there and listens to whatthe father says that they mean to them
or their caregiver or their co parent. Everyone is in tears because it solidifies
what the impact has on the childrenand father, their bond, their relationship,
what they can forge, what theycan build, what they can do

(18:40):
together inside the walls because they're notthere outside with them. Yeah, I
have to say that. I thinkit's especially striking because a lot of these
guys are big, hulking dudes.You know, they look tough, they
look very manly, and then herethey are. They're speaking in this most
ten under beautiful way to their childrenand you just can't help but be moved

(19:04):
by that. Yes, fathers arefathers no matter what, no matter how
big they are, no matter howmanly they are or how hulky, they
are a father as a father,no matter what. I wish I had
been able to be given permission torecord this, because there's this other aspect
of it that was about the bondingof the dads who are also in that

(19:26):
cohort. So when some of thedads spoke, then the men who are
sort of ringed around everybody would chimein on particular words, like the guy
is saying, you know, Ireally believe that you've got courage, and
then they'll all go at the sametime, courage, and it's like,
oh my gosh, you know,just really just so I don't know,

(19:48):
just so powerful, because not onlyare these fathers bonding with their person,
their little child, but I thinkthe men themselves have to be bonding with
each other, right, I wouldassume so. And I think it's like
a great performance, like one ofthe greatest performances of their lives maybe to
be able to say that and besurrounded with their cohorts, the other men

(20:15):
that they've bonded with, and alsosee them and how the impact is with
them and their children. Also,Darlene, I'm going to ask you to
come back to the microphone, andI wonder you know, it's not only
the men and the children, butthe people that are the part of the
external team that must be get somuch out of this experience. Tell us

(20:36):
what this has been for you beinga part of this, Yes, it
has been amazing because in the beginningyou get these mothers who just may you
know, be a little hesitant aboutthe program, and I give them the
insight on listen in six weeks.Once you come this first day, I
promise you you'll want to come backthe second, third, and fourth and

(20:56):
move forward. And that's the truth. By the time we get to graduation,
I'm like, just make sure youhear your tissues ready because it's very
emotional. You'll be surprised how thechildren open up. They build their bond
over time with one another. Theywant to go out outside, effect and
spend time together. As well,as Katora said, they get to also

(21:18):
see how children interact with you know, other children interact with their parents,
and they're not the only ones goingthrough this situation. So as part of
the external team, I get tosee the growth and you see how the
children come in a little quiet,timid, shy, and by the end
they're so excited. They're full ofenergy, emotion and they feel free to

(21:42):
express it. Yeah. So yeah, man, it's pretty cool because I've
had the opportunity to see several graduations, but a few years apart, and
so I've interviewed a mom and herson, and say, four or five
years later, I see them againand I see that the bond is just

(22:02):
really strong and it's really beautiful.It's just fantastic. Now, I do
want to talk about these two booksthat you brought with you. It's called
A Father's Love and it's a coloringbook and also a reader book. And
I wonder if you can tell usmore about the book itself. It's kind
of like a graphic novel. It'sspecifically based on the Fact program. Yes,

(22:27):
so it just gives a little insighton how fathers being a way can
impact the children over time and thedifferent scenarios that go through and are actually
similar across the board, unfortunately,but we just touch bases on those topics
so that when children do read this, they get to see again that they're

(22:49):
not the only one in this situation. They're not alone. Yeah, so
it really is a great book forkids whose fathers might be behind the wall,
but they get an opportunity to seethat their experience is not unique.
It's supportive, and it really kindof goes through that father's love of their

(23:11):
children and it's just a beautiful thing. And I love that you've got not
only the book but also a coloringbook and it's illustrated by Urban Tune,
So shout out to them, andalso to Vaness Lloyd's Gambadi who connected the
Fact Program with the artist and thewhole thing. So Yessa, Urbin Tunes

(23:32):
has been doing a great job withproduction and putting the book together for us.
Yeah, So there's a three partseries. The first one is a
Child's Treasure, the second one isDorda's First Love, and the third one
we didn't release it, so we'lltalk about that a little later. But
the first one is about little DLittle D and how he grows up without

(23:56):
his father, and then we goon to speak about Michelle, and that's
the coloring book. Both of themhave the coloring book and the reader's book.
Oh gotcha? Okay, yes,well, how can people get a
copy of that? I'm going,okay, a little bit more insight,
all right, tell us about that. People can get a copy by going

(24:17):
to the fact Experience website, andthat's fact experience dot org all of our
information to contact Darlene myself or ourexecutive director, Lori goens will be on
the website and you can contact anyof us to find out more about this
book. Is there anything else youwant to add before we close? With
these books come worksheets for the parentand the child, something for them to

(24:41):
do together, something for co parentsto discuss, something for the children to
bring up if they want to askany questions to the fathers if they're inside
doing the cohort, or they canbring it up to their mother. If
they're not part of the program,they can ask questions. They will become
part of the program, and forJabon that's a wonderful thing. Those are

(25:03):
great resources and the fact program isextraordinary. Do you all want to give
some shout outs before we close tosome of the folks who are not able
to be here today, but youknow, are still doing great work behind
the walls of SEI Phoenix. Sure, we'd like to give a shout out,
of course to the internal team whodoes a tremendous job and makes our

(25:26):
job out here much easier. Theyput together every little detail of each book.
We pretty much just look it overand say it looks great. Change
this or change that. But forthe most part, they do everything down
to the coloring the titles, eventhe different experiences that they choose to put

(25:48):
illustrate in the books. It speakson how the children without our father may
react in school, what different scenariosthey may come across outside, and how
it could trigger their emotions throughout theirlife. Patur, did you want to
join with any more? Shout outsto the internal team. Shout out to

(26:10):
the internal team because they are reallyimpactful and without them, it wouldn't be
an external team. But yes,they do put us to work. We're
their food workers, so we runall over the police for them. Any
specific people you'd like to shout out, Shout out to inside workers that go

(26:32):
through the extensive sessions with the fathers. I think that's pretty impactful, So
shout out to them. They doa tremendous job with working with the fathers
and getting them prepared with the parentingclasses and sessions that they have so that
they can meet their little ones forthis extensive six week program that the children
get to come inside for fantastic andrepeat the website for more information and to

(26:56):
get a copy of a Father's Love. Fact Experience Dot. Darlene Brown Freeman,
vice president of the Fact Experience,Katura More, President of the External
Board of Fathers and Children Together.Shout out to all the internal team at
SCI Phoenix, and shout out toall the individuals internally who work at SI

(27:17):
Phoenix as well as the external team, of which there are so many,
and all the graduates, both thechildren and the mothers. Because the mothers
don't actually necessarily come into the prisonfor the program, they get a whole
separate experience while the fathers and childrenget to bond and know that normally a
visitation at a prison is not conduciveto bonding between the dads or the men

(27:41):
and their children and the people thatthey love. So this is an extraordinary
thing that has lasting impact and reallydoes help break that cycle of incarceration.
Anything else, Darlene before we close, Yes, so I actually get a
chance to deal with the mom's handon we bord on this time, just
as well as the children go throughan air it out session. And it

(28:03):
was tremendous because the mothers get achance to say what they would want to
say to the fathers. So thatwas extremely impactful. Yeah, shout out
to the moms. I love thatthey come on board and we love for
them to be a part of it. You can listen to all of today's
interviews by going to our station websiteand typing in keyword Community. You can

(28:25):
also listen on the iHeartRadio app yyWords Philadelphia Community Podcast. Follow me on
Twitter and Instagram at Lorraine Ballard.I'm Lorraine Ballard Morrow and I stand for
service to our community and media thatempowers. What will you stand for?
You've been listening to Insight and thankyou.