The If Project
"If there was something someone could have said or done that would have changed the path that lead you here, what would it have been?"
Seattle Police Detective Kim Bogucki posed this question to a group of prisoners at the Washington Correction Center for Women. Initially, it was just posed randomly to the group and inspired some discussion.
On her next visit to WCCW, officer Bogucki was surprised to find this question had incited great inspiration with one inmate, Renata Abramson. Renata had taken it upon herself to share this question with her fellow prisoners. She asked them to take time, really consider the question and write down what they felt. She handed Kim a stack of papers. The question had sparked something in them. Not just a desire to search themselves to find what could have changed their own lives, but a larger desire to impart this information to help others. The letters were incredibly moving and inspired the project to grow into outreach and education. The ultimate goal is to find answers on how to break the chain of felonies that have brought them all here, in the hopes to prevent others from doing the same.
The IF Project has now grown tremendously. It has been turned into a full-length documentary and numerous youth and community outreach programs that focus on prevention, a Reentry Mentoring Program for incarcerated women, as well as writing workshops inside prisons.