Dear Friends of Power Inside,

Please download our holiday giving guide by clicking HERE or to make a secure monetary donation via PayPal click HERE.

This holiday season will be difficult for many. Our many clients come to rely upon the support of Power Inside, we have come to rely upon your help as we provide assistance to the many women who so direly need it. Even small donations make a big difference.

HOW TO GIVE?  Pledge to make a monetary donation (which are tax deductible) or purchase one or more gifts from our wish list. Purchasing items from the attached list helps us to make sure women get what they need during the winter months. Please call us if you wish to sponsor an entire family! You may drop off gifts and checks at the following times, call to arrange pick-up, or mail items to us.

* Checks should be made payable to: Power Inside, P.O. Box 4796, Baltimore, MD 21211

* Scheduled drop-off times:  Power Inside is located at 325 E. 25^th Street, Baltimore 21218

    Donations may be dropped off during the following periods, or arranged in advance by phone.  

- Sunday                     December 11^th           3:00 pm – 5:00 pm

- Tuesday                    December 13^th           8:00 am – 12:00 pm

 - Thursday                  December 15^th           5:00 pm – 8:00 pm

- Saturday                  December 17^th           2:00 pm – 5:00 pm                  

WHO ARE WE?  Power Inside is a non-profit program of Fusion Partnerships, Inc. We provide support for women who are transitioning from jail to the community, who are homeless, and who are impacted by a lack of resources. We serve 300 women per year through our women's drop-in center, support groups in jail and prison, street outreach, and counseling.

WHO WILL BENEFIT?  Donations will be distributed to women who are recently released from incarceration, or who live in transitional houses, shelters, and on the streets.

Thank you in advance for your generous support!

Take a look at our most recent job announcement by clicking HERE.

Power Inside is looking for applicants who will thrive as members of a small, close-knit and hardworking women’s organization. All positions require a positive attitude and personal dedication to justice for women impacted by homelessness, sex trade, incarceration, and drug-use. Excellent listening, customer service and communication skills are a must. Applicants must possess ability to anticipate, prioritize and manage tasks needed to complete projects. She will be flexible and relaxed when faced with changing priorities and while under pressure, and have a commitment to honesty, personal integrity and teamwork. Forget texting and facebook -- work at Power Inside requires a high degree of self-motivation and commitment to the day-to-day activities as well as our cause. Wage based on experience. Survivors, women of color, and lgbt women encourage to apply. Available positions include: Part-time Administrative Associate, Full-time Women’s Homeless Services Worker, Full-time Women’s Advocate, and Part-time Women’s Peer Outreach Worker.

Send personalized cover letter and current resume by US Mail or Email ONLY to Program Director, P.O. Box 4796, Baltimore, MD 21211 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (indicate position title in subject line). NO PHONE CALLS, FAXES, OR IN-PERSON APPLICATIONS PLEASE.

Power Inside has created a resource for human service providers to increase the sensitivity and quality of care at their agencies. Click HERE  to download the document. Transgender people face barriers that increase their risk of homelessness, including discrimination, poverty and unemployment. This resource is also useful for individuals looking for steps they can take to be more sensitive to transgender people. Please find out how you can be an ally for safety, dignity and justice for transgender women who need shelter and services in Baltimore.

A small but powerful group of young women, deeply impacted by the violence against women and girls in Baltimore, stepped out to form a new group that will honor women harmed or lost to violence. Remember Me held its first vigil on May 5th. Power Inside stood in solidarity with the Remember Me organizers at the vigil. We are inspired by the Remember Me leadership and are grateful that Power Inside members will be acknowledged by them. We have lost so many women and girls to violence.

Unsung Baltimore, the blog of local writer Kevin Griffin Moreno, featured our Director and the amazing staff and work of Power Inside.

The current crisis in the jail hit the Baltimore Sun today. Power Inside is just one of many programs impacted by the lockdown of the city jail.

Through a grant from the Abell Foundation, Power Inside released the results of a study that details the needs of men detained at the Baltimore City Detention Center (BCDC). Adjusting the Lens: A Window into the Needs of Men in Jail, by Shawn Flower, PhD, shows that men in Baltimore's jail face overwhelming barriers, such as HIV/AIDS, mental illness, substance abuse, and homelessness. The Window Replication Study Project partners, including Catholic Charities of Baltimore, the Mayor's Office of Baltimore City, Power Inside and Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, commissioned the study by Dr. Flower in order to better understand the challenges and opportunities for men in jail, both while they are detained and after their release. Adjusting the Lens builds on Power Inside's earlier work to examine the needs of women in Baltimore's jail.

Partnering with Jails to Improve Reentry: A Guidebook for Community-Based Organizations, by the Urban Institute and John Jay Criminal Justice College, and funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, gives community based organizations an overview of jail reentry work and resources to develop partnerships with their local jail. Power Inside contributed suggestions based on nearly 10 years experience providing jail reentry services, vignettes on client success stories, and an agency profile.

In Baltimore Behind Bars: How to Reduce the Jail Population, Save Money and Improve Public Safety, Justice Policy Institute details Baltimore’s complex system of city policing practices and court and bail processes that contribute to a high percentage of city residents being detained in the jail. Data from Power inside's 2005 study of the needs of women in Baltimore's jail and our 2009 collaborative study of the needs of men in jail was used to illustrate the challenges that detainees face once they are released into the community.

Jacqueline Robarge was appointed to the Maryland Task Force on Prisoner Re-Entry which was established in May 2009 to promote lower recidivism rates, the Task Force is to examine ways to pool resources and funding streams. Further, the Task Force will analyze: existing hurdles to the reintegration of adult and juvenile offenders into the community; guidelines and criteria for tracking outcomes of re-entry program participation by inmates; and data tracking of the pre- and post-release impact of re-entry programs.

The Power Inside Director, Jacqueline Robarge, was awarded the Petra Fellowship, a national award that recognizes the work of “unsung leaders who are making distinctive contributions to the rights, autonomy and dignity of millions who are marginalized in America.” Jacqueline was named one of four new Petra Fellows after the Petra Foundation conducted a national search, nomination, and vetting process.

Power Inside’s director and a member, along with an attorney from Homeless Persons Representation Project, and Baltimore City Housing Commissioner, Paul Graziano, discuss Baltimore Housing Authority policies and their impact on homeless people with minor criminal backgrounds. Listen to the Marc Steiner Show WEAA 88.9 Radio segment here.

Power Inside received a major grant from City of Baltimore to engage, house and stabilize women who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness. Services provided will include short-term rental assistance, linkages to the Housing Choice Voucher Program and long-term support.

One by one, we lose women to gender-based violence while society turns a blind-eye. The recent string of murders of women on the street has overwhelmed the staff and clients of Power Inside with anger, fear, confusion and pain. Nicole’s loss is more devastating than we can fully express. The City Paper talks about Nicole’s life in the article Dual Natures: Nicole Sesker Was More Than Just a Drug-Addicted Prostitute Murdered On The Streets of Baltimore.

Jacqueline Robarge was presented the "Audacious Individual" Award from the Open Society Institute. George Soros presented three people the award who have acted boldly with spirited, original ideas to improve the lives of Baltimore's underserved populations.

Power Inside Director, Jacqueline Robarge, advocates for compassionate and sensible public policy in her piece Rethinking Street Prostitution in Audacious Ideas, the Open Society Institute blog created to stimulate ideas and discussion about solutions to difficult problems in Baltimore.

Jacqueline Robarge, Power Inside’s Director, comments in Gus Sentementes’ article Web Site Vice Stings: Police targeting ads on Craigslist.org for prostitution arrests.

Power Inside started the first support group in Maryland for young women in prison. The "Keeping it Real" program for women ages 15-25 at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women was featured in Macroscope, the newsletter for the Maryland Mediation and Conflict Resolution Office (MACRO). Read here to learn about this very special group funded by MACRO.

Release from Jail: Moment of Crisis or Window of Opportunity for Female Detainees?, by Rachel L. McLean, Jacqueline Robarge, and Susan G. Sherman is the first study of its kind. This study supports Power Inside’s claim of high rates of homelessness, chronic and urgent care health issues, HIV risk, and limited social support among women detained at the Baltimore City Detention Center. Self-published version available from Power Inside.

Read Afefe Tyehimba's articles: Along Came a Spiral - Danielle Thought Falling Into a Life of Drug Addiction and Prostitution Was Hard--Until She Tried to Get Out on March 31, 2004 & April 7, 2004 in the Baltimore City Paper. Danielle's hopes were to tell her story in order to help other women.

Jacqueline Robarge has been awarded an Open Society Institute Community Fellowship. The 18 month fellowship is the first funding received for Power Inside's services and advocacy.

Conditions in jail found to violate prisoners' rights according to a U.S. Justice Department study of Baltimore City Detention Center. Read the Baltimore Sun Article about the facility where Power Inside reaches out to women in jail. Things must change at the jail--women are going in on petty drug and prostitution charges and losing their lives due to preventable causes, such as asthma, suicide, drug complications, and heat stroke. Click here to read the entire report of the Department of Justice findings on the human and civil rights violations at the Baltimore City Detention Center.