And I'm not talking about predictable things, like lobbying legislators or teaming up with faith-based organizations, even though Johnson-Speight's group does that and more.
I'm talking prevention advocacy on the ground level with the women who could have the most profound influence on their children but who don't because they're incarcerated.
"The idea," Johnson-Speight says before we head out to the Riverside Correctional Facility in Northeast Philly on a recent frigid night, "is to heal these women so they can be better parents, so they won't end up being part of Mothers in Charge."
Without good parenting, kids could "wind up being victims or perpetrators of violence," Johnson-Speight says.
Makes perfect sense.
Needed mentoring
"Heal a Woman, Heal a Nation" is a 12-week program that mentors and provides incarcerated women with coping skills for resolving conflict.
Two nights a week, Johnson-Speight and members of her team - many of whom served time themselves - go into Riverside and mentor the inmates.
Talk about needed. Women, most of whom are doing time for drug violations, are the fastest-growing penal-system population. Their incarceration rates are nearly double the rate for men.
Those skyrocketing numbers can't help but adversely impact the children, especially since for so many, their mom is their only parent.
"A lot of these women have not connected with their families because of their drug addiction, and their kids are not with them anymore," Johnson-Speight says. "Can you imagine how many children are affected as a result?"
In a packed meeting room in the prison, Mothers in Charge volunteers encourage role-playing to learn how to quash a potential beef.
