OK Messages Project

The Ok Messages Project implements a highly effective prevention and literacy initiative that positively impacts children’s lives while alleviating the adverse effects of incarceration. Through the use of a digital filming process, parents in prison can read books to their children, fostering and strengthening the parent-child bond, enhancing literacy, and improving the child’s social-emotional and educational outcomes and development.

The OK Messages Project takes trained volunteer teams into prisons to coach and film incarcerated parents reading a book to their child and sharing a positive message. We mail the book and DVD of the parent reading the story to approximately 1,000 children before Christmas and 1,000 children for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

As children get to see and hear their parents sharing positive messages like “I love you, and I’m proud of you” through OK Messages DVDs, it helps them see themselves in a positive way, and they know that their parents are safe and love them.