In Costa Rica and Honduras, on paper, families have the right to visit their children in juvenile detention. But for many mothers, the barriers created by poverty can feel insurmountable and nearly impossible to overcome alone:
● A bus ticket that costs $5.
● A day of work lost.
● A courtroom process no one ever explained.
● A system that does not let a parent know what is happening to their child, what their rights are, or how they can advocate on behalf of their child.
Many of the families we work with live in extreme poverty and have little formal education. Most do not know how to navigate the juvenile justice system. And so, they wait, not because they don’t care, but because they haven’t been given the tools to advocate for their children or themselves.
As a Restore the Circle Sponsor, here’s what YOU make possible.
Restore the Circle is JJAI’s monthly sponsorship program. As a monthly sponsor, you fund transportation for family visits, hygiene kits, workshops for both youth and their families, mentoring, and re-entry support.
When a mother can make the trip to the juvenile detention center where her child waits behind bars, she doesn’t just visit. She starts asking questions. She learns how the system works. She discovers that she can play a role in her child’s future. The moral strength of a mother who refuses to give up carries a weight that no system can match. Her determination to stay connected to her child is a power all its own.
No one advocates for a child more powerfully than their own family.
Our role is simple: We remove the barriers, financial, geographic, and informational, so mothers can stay connected to their children.
The moment everything changes
We have seen this moment many times.
A mother walks into one of our workshops. She hasn’t seen her son in months. No one has explained the legal process to her before.
For the first time, someone tells her what her rights are. What is happening in the courtroom. What can she ask. What she can do.
She begins to ask questions.
At the end, she says quietly:
“This is the first time anyone treated me like I had the right to know.”
That moment, multiplied across hundreds of families, is what your sponsorship makes possible. Not just a visit. Not just a kit.
A mother who is no longer a silenced bystander, but the leading advocate for her child.
That’s what your $42 a month will do. What a powerful partner you will be!
Our goal: 50 sponsors by Mother’s Day, May 10.
When you become a Restore the Circle sponsor, you can:
• Write a personal message to a parent in our program
• Receive updates from families and youth throughout the year
• Dedicate your gift in honor of someone you love
And most importantly, you become part of a community that strengthens family connection at the core of every real second chance.
