About
What We Do
Oklahoma Messages Project operates a highly effective prevention and literacy program that makes a positive differences in kids’ lives and helps mitigate the damage of incarceration. By using multi-media filming of parents in prison reading books to their children, the Oklahoma Messages Project helps maintain and improve the parent-child relationship, boost literacy, and improve the child’s social, emotional, and educational outcomes.
for the 135,300 children who have experienced parental incarceration, research shows:
%
15% of all Oklahoma children have a parent in prison during their growing up years
%
the odds of these children developing a serious psychiatric disorder increases by 250%
How We Do It
Our Process
Who We Are
Our Team
Cheri Fuller
Founder & Executive Director
Holmes Fuller
Program Director
Ali Plum
Assistant Program Director & Volunteer Coordinator
Some of Our Wonderful Volunteers
Our Board
Cheri Fuller, Executive Director
OK Messages Project
Brittany Hunt-Jassey, Board Chair
OKDHS Legislative Liason
Francie Ekwerekwu
Assistant Federal Public Defender
Western District of Oklahoma
Trae B. Rahill, Chairman
Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer of OHCA
Brent Carter
President of UAS Risk
Corey White
Partner, Senior VP, Intelligence Analyst
TriCorp Technologies
Sunny Walker
OK Messages Volunteer
Shenita Jefferson
Project Manager, Flourish OKC
Sally Ketchum Edwards Esq.
Rosell Law Group
Joshua James McClintock
Partner, RedAnt, LLC
Stacey A. Wiebelt
Wiebelt & Associates, PLLC
Did You Know?
Quick Facts
For a child, having a family member removed for a short or especially long time, (i.e., several years behind bars) is like a death and takes a huge emotional toll. Over 135,000 children in Oklahoma experience this trauma during their childhood years.
Trauma from having a mother or father imprisoned has negative lifelong effects: school and educational problems, economic hardships, and mental health issues including depression and anxiety. These difficulties can last for decades.
No matter what the parents did, to the children they are still mom and dad, and the kids long for connection.
For the majority of children in Oklahoma, in-person visits aren’t possible. So the “Messages from Mom” and “Messages from Dad” video visits and books provided by the OK Messages Project fill a huge gap in the lives of Children.
Maintaining the parental bond through the powerful and bonding experience of reading aloud together decreases kids’ anxiety and depression, improves their reading and school outcomes-and is the most effective strategy to ensure that children of incarcerated parents will thrive, stay in school and out of prison.
Our Sponsors
We Are Grateful for Your Support
