PRISON PROGRAM: FINDING FREEDOM BEHIND BARS

Mohalu’s Talks of Freedom is a 12-week journey of contemplation and introspection. Once a week, for two hours, we gather in circle to sit, listen, talk-story, and make our way through Mohalu’s curriculum. Through universal questions, insight practices, and peering into the reality of direct experience, we explore what it means to awaken behind bars. 

Classes range from 10 to 15 participants and reflect the diverse realities of Hawai‘i’s incarcerated — Native Hawaiians comprise 40% of the prison population and carry the weight of systemic oppression. 

The Women’s Community Correctional Center (WCCC) is Hawai‘i’s only women’s prison, serving pre-trial and sentenced individuals across all custody levels.

The Waiawa Correctional Facility (WCF) is a 334-bed, minimum-security prison for sentenced male inmates that focuses on reentry into the community from prison. All inmates participate in education or substance abuse treatment programs.

The Halawa Correctional Facility (HCF) is a medium security facility that houses male sentenced felons. In order to mitigate overcrowding, about 1,400 male inmates from HCF are housed in an out-of-state contracted facility in Arizona.