Totally True Things: A Socially Conscious Storytelling Show and Lifestage, Inc present:
WE ARE STILL HUMAN
written and performed by Helena Lewis
Post-show discussion moderated by host/producer Jude Treder-Wolff includes
Justice Rountree and Priscilla Cormona
This webinar was recorded on October 15, 2020. A link to watch will be emailed to you after receipt of registration.
Registration fee: $12
Social workers in NYS can earn 1.5 contact hours of Continuing Education for watching this show and completing an online evaluation.
We Are Still Human explores through narrative story telling, poetry, and monologues the marginalized voices of incarcerated women. Over the past three decades, the number of women incarcerated has increased by eight-hundred percent. This increase can be attributed to untreated mental illness, substance abuse, social and economic disparities, and tougher sentencing laws for women’s drug offenses. However, the current correctional system does not take into consideration the gendered needs of women who are incarcerated and how their reentry into society can be hindered by unresolved grief and loss.
Helena D. Lewis, DSW is a theatrical scholar-practitioner who uses qualitative research and social work theories to illuminate the nuances of social justice issues that impact marginalized and incarcerated voices. Lewis obtained her Doctor of Social Work (DSW) and Master in Social Work (MSW) from Rutgers University. Lewis is also an Licensed Social Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and an Licensed Clinical Alcohol Drug Counselor (LCADC). After obtaining her BA in biology Lewis became a certified HIV/AIDS health educator and developed, implemented and supervised a drop-in center for drug-addicted prostitutes for the Community At Risk Reduction (CARR) Program in Newark, New Jersey. She also spoke at the New Jersey Woman and AIDS Network Annual HIV/AIDS Symposium and her work with prostitutes has been featured on New Jersey News Network. She helped develop a vocational rehabilitation component for a Department of Corrections (DOC) Community Release Program for women. She also spent three years working on a CDC/HRSA Correctional Demonstration Project providing prevention case management to HIV positive male inmates. Ms. Lewis is currently the Substance Abuse Treatment Director for a 51 bed facility for women inmates. For additional information about Lewis' work with incarcerated women please visit her multi-media project, We Are Still Human.
A discussion following the performance includes Justice Rountree, activist and advocate for social justice, expert on mass incarceration and reentry, and spoken word artist, and Priscilla Cormona, co-owner of Second Chance Opportunity Reintegration Entity Systems, LLC (SCORES, LLC) and will be graduating from the School of Social Services at Fordham University in December 2019. SCORES, LLC was created on the basis of second chances, providing each individual impacted by incarceration and addiction with services that include employment, mentorship, case management and advocacy.
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