The San Quentin Visiting Room was turned into a joyous, festive place with smiles, painted faces, and children hugging their dads, some for the first time, in celebration of Fathers Day.
“This is the first time I’ve seen my daughter since she was a week old,” said Troy Phillips, whose family lives in Bakersfield. His daughter, Troyanna, was too shy to say anything, but smiled and played with a board game. She had just turned 10.
“All the kids sang her happy birthday yesterday. This was a great birthday present for her,” said Cathy Kalin, one of the community volunteers who coordinated the event, sponsored by a group called Get on the Bus.
Each year around Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, hundreds of children and their caregivers board buses and travel from cities all over the state to unite with incarcerated parents. Get on the Bus provides free transportation to three women’s prisons and seven men’s prisons. The non-profit provide travel bags, comfort care bags for the caregivers, a photo of each child with his or her parent, and meals for the trip (breakfast, snacks on the bus, lunch at the prison, and dinner on the way home), all at no cost to the children’s family. On the bus trip home each child receives a “stay connected bag” which consists of pens, paper, stamps and other goodies to keep the children connected with their incarcerated parents.
“This is a very special day for the men,” said Kevin Chappell, San Quentin’s acting warden. “It’s always good to see family come together. Reunifying families that have been disconnected brings good morale, which helps the men stay within the rules. Get on the Bus has brought much joy to many here today.”
Children of all ages pranced around in purple T-shirts, getting refreshments, or headed to the cameraman to take a picture with their mom and dad. Kids took up all the seats as they played board games with their dads or newly found friends.
“Troy is a great father and role model,” said Troyanna’s mother Zunknie Newell, whose name means Morning Star in Swahili. “Bakersfield is so far away, and Get on the Bus provided us with this opportunity.” She added, “I have a 19-year- old son doing a 40-to-life sentence in Pelican Bay right now. I am sure if Troy was in his life, he would not be in prison.”
“This is our third time using Get on the Bus,” said Eric Davis, whose family lives in Sacramento. “This has given me the opportunity to see my wife and kids an extra time each year.” Keysha, Eric’s wife, smiled and said the visit was timely because June 4 was their 20-year wedding anniversary.
Children of Incarcerated Parents reports that regular visits between children and their incarcerated parents reduces recidivism for the incarcerated parent and improves family reunification following the parent’s release.
An estimated 297,000 California children have a parent in jail or prison, and 60 percent of those parents are held more than 100 miles from their children.
Information about the faith-based organization can be found at www.getonthebus.us
