THE DEPARTMENT OF CONNECTIONS
At Underground, we believe mutual transformation happens through relationship.
This space features stories and reflections from the Underground community—staff, participants, and partners—offering an honest look at reentry, healing, and the work of rebuilding lives together.
From Penpals To Family: A Story of Mutual Transformation
When Virginia first told me the story of how One Parish One Prisoner entered her life, she laughed a little, not because it was dramatic, but because it was ordinary. It didn’t begin with a big moment or a clear calling. It began the way so many important things do: with exhaustion, uncertainty, and a simple invitation at a time when she wasn’t sure she had much left to give.
When a Community Goes to Court: The Power of Proximity
For many of us here, the year started with a trial.
So many of you have been donating, praying, spreading the word about our friend Victor's upcoming case.
Holidays and Healing: The Quiet Miracle of New Belonging
For many of us who have lived through incarceration, the holidays carry their own kind of memory.
The Keys: Driver’s Licenses and Unlocking Communities
Can you guess what the number one legal reason people go back into the court system after release? Not drug charges. Not violent charges. Not theft.
The Person Sitting Next to You: families all around us have incarcerated loved ones
This was a white woman, middle aged. Nice pedicure. Tan from her vacation. I had to check my own stereotypes of the formerly incarcerated.
