 Happy Aloha Friday! Welcome to a brand-new episode of Perspectives on Global Justice, think back about it. This is your host Beatrice Cantelmo. On today's episode of Perspectives on Global Justice, guest Ruby Menon will share with our viewers an update about the successful program that she started almost five years ago, the CARE program. CARE stands for Correctional Reentry Project. Join us for a time of great talk stories about the power and the strength the arts has on people's emotional and physical well-being, as well as a carolistic force for newfound pride, creativity, healing, and even on how to make money. On that note, welcome! Thank you, Beatrice. Thank you so much for having me and we appreciate it. Oh, absolutely. This is just such an important topic for us to have this conversation on. But before we start, can you share with our viewers a little bit of your background? Like, where are you from and where are you at as far as walk these days? Oh, okay. Gee, I don't even know where to start. Well, I was originally born in Geneva, Switzerland, so French was my first language. And then we moved to the United States when I was young. My father used to work in the United Nations and so we moved around quite a bit, landed in New York City, then had to learn English, and then moved to the Bay Area, which I kind of consider more my home, and then moved to Hawaii, got married, and have been here for almost 20 years. Plus, I think I've lost track. And I've had several careers. My educational background is that I have a master's and MBA, but I had a strong business background. I've worked in human resources and finances. About maybe three or four years ago, I decided that I wanted to do a complete change in my career path. And I've always loved technology. And so I decided to actually my husband and I started to create an assessment product for the nonprofit that he has founded called WorkNet. And WorkNet's mission is to help people transition from prison to the community. So it offers transitional services like helping people get their ID documents, securing a job, housing, a driver's license, so that they can have better job opportunities. And I have always helped him in the periphery. And several years ago, we created an assessment tool to help these individuals transition back to the community by identifying the types of risks that we would need to manage for them as they're coming out, and also to identify what types of vocational pursuits they might be interested in so we could do a better job match. Because of my HR background, I created the vocational piece. He did the risk profile. We tested this product in the field for several years. And then about 2012, I said, you know what, we need to transition this to an online product. And so all of a sudden I found myself becoming a product manager because I had to hire a developer. And I just jumped in 110%, learned a little bit about coding, product management, UX design. And I just found I loved the whole concept of taking a product from an idea to an actual working product. And so I decided, you know what, I think I want to do this for a career. And so a few years ago, I got a wonderful opportunity to work for an early stage startup locally here as a product manager. And so that's what I'm doing today. But I get bored easily. So I loved being involved in a lot of different projects. And this care project has always been, since five years ago, has been in my heart. It came about actually when my husband and I were talking one day, as we normally do at the kitchen table, and he was telling me, you know, how much artistic talent exists in the prisons. And how did you guys notice that? Like, was it through your interactions with inmates? Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Because so one of the programs that he offers to worknet is a cognitive skills restructuring program or cognitive skills. And so he has a face-to-face contact with these with the inmates. He gets to know them very intimately. And they would show him stuff, you know, they would like, you know, bring him like artwork. And he was like, going, wow, this is mind boggling. I mean, you guys are so talented, we've got to do something to showcase your art. And so we started talking and I business mind thinking, gee, I wonder if there's a way, the question came up, I wonder if there's a way that we could market and sell their artwork. And we just kept on cooking this idea. And then one day I just said, you know what, I want to take this on. I want to figure out a way. And that was the birth of care. That was the birth of the care project. And so when you started, it was 2012, right? Yes. How did you deliver this project to the individuals who are, you know, incarcerated right now in Hawaii? And how many prisoners did you start with? And what was their response? As you said, hey, here's a project, you know, hear me out. Oh, they love it. So how it started was, because I have a technology background, one of the things that we do in technology is we talk about a minimum viable product, which means that we take something, a very basic idea, and we test it before we decide to go full on and launch it. So that's what I did. I thought, okay, let me test this idea. I had no idea if the public would even be accepting of incarcerated, you know, inmate art. I didn't know if people would just say, oh, inmate art, no, no, thank you. Or, you know, if there'd be some interest, I had no idea, right? So I got very lucky. I got to meet Miley Meyer, who is from Namea, Hawaii Gallery, at an event. And lo and behold, everybody was telling me, you've got to talk to Miley and, you know, tell her about this project. And all of a sudden, one day, I'm at an event with her. I'm sitting next to her, serendipity. And I thought, oh, now's my chance. I've got to talk about this project. And so I did. And she said, I love this idea of this. The other thing, too, is because Miley supports a lot of Native Hawaiian projects. And as we know, the Native Hawaiian population is way overrepresented in our presence. Right. It's like one out of all Native Hawaiians are in the correctional system. They represent 30%. And also are the highest group that recidivate, that continuously go back into the system. Right. So Miley invited me to her gallery. At that time, I had two artists that I was working with, had already transitioned out of prison and in the community. So I brought them with me. Do we have any pictures of their work with us? Actually, yes, I have. The artist I was representing, this eagle was made by Mo Kalaikai, who spent six years in Arizona. And he has a very interesting story. He was a welder by trade, but he always loved art. He always had an artistic talent. And it took him going to Arizona in prison to rediscover his artistic talent. And he had a lot of time on his hands, and he started to draw. And he then created a portfolio that I swear to God, it must be this thick for all the time that he spent there. And interestingly enough, art in the prison is used as a currency, because people would come to him and say, Mo, I want to send something to my girlfriend. Here's a photo of her. Can you draw a picture of her? And so he would draw and they would pay him. And then he would be able to use his money for the store, to buy things at the store. And he said after a year, he was able to save enough money to be able to buy a television for his cell. So people don't realize that people with artistic talent in the prisons are respected and they have a way of monetizing within that system, where they can use it as a currency. So an artwork that is done by a person who is in the correctional system, does it get to be then put on the exhibit in an art gallery or online? Or do they have to wait until they get out of prison to be able to do that? Yeah. So that's the beauty of our project. So going back to Miley, what she agreed to do was to take some of Mo's work on consignment. And so he sells some of these images that you see on the TV screen are actually on cards. And he sells those cards at her gallery. And I started this relationship with her about four years ago. And to this day, he still receives quarterly commission checks because his cards sell. People love his images. And that's when I tested the idea we had an opportunity to sell the artwork in front of her gallery. And that weekend, the artist made about $300. And so they were able to interact with the public and talk to them. And I started to see something amazing. Like I said, I didn't know how the public was going to react. And what I saw was that people saw the artwork. The first thing they reacted to was the art, right? They love the art. And then we would tell them the story about the care project and the fact that this person was incarcerated. And I noticed the bear, because at first I thought as soon as I say incarcerated, something's going to, you know, they're going to shift, right? That's what, that was what I expected. But I didn't see that. Instead, what I saw was people saying, looking at the person, looking at the art and they're going like, wow, everybody deserves a second chance. And so because of that art piece, it melted their barriers, their resistance, their stereotypes, whatever was going on if you had just presented them as an incarcerated person. And it melted that down. And they saw them as a real person who had some talent, who had who deserved another chance in society. Yeah. And you know, I think that that is so important because, you know, in a society that we live in, we are so judgmental. Oh, you know, if you have a criminal record or are in jail, you're not a good person or you're not worthy of second chances or not available. Right. And that's not true. And, you know, that reminds me a lot of one teaching from my mother, so wise, you know, that she would say to me, it was so important to differentiate between the person and the behavior and the choices that they might have made, good, better, ugly, because they are not their behaviors and those choices is much more to that. And then we also have to walk to preserve the integrity of their person, which I think for a lot of inmates and a lot of people who, you know, hit criminal justice system, that's like it's completely assassinated. You're no longer a person anymore. You are, you know, this offense that you committed and you have a record, you know, and I just love it that the arts actually was able to reconnect people to a very core principle, you know. Yes. That's really special. Yes. And what I realized is the power of the art, you know, originally our model was we wanted to market and sell the artwork so that these inmates could earn money for their transition back to the community because oftentimes they're released with no financial resources. That was the objective of the program. But what I saw from that experience is that it is so much more that it has the ability of changing hearts and minds basically, you know, through the artwork. So let's talk about that change of minds and hearts. Even from the perspective of individuals who, you know, are incarcerated, I don't like to use the incarcerated person, you know. It's a personal, individual past, you know. Their condition is of being incarcerated. But when they started to embrace care projects, what is it that you have seen from that little seed at the beginning and as they progress, you know, in their own work? Oh, I have some wonderful stories from that. So a part of the launch of the care project is we got some seed funding. And so we were able to launch it at the women's prison as a pilot project. And then from there on, so we've added actually at the women's prison now for about four years, four years, I think. And so the women that have gone through the program, I've just saw some just amazing, amazing things. You know, I mean, I don't know if you've ever been in the prison, but it's a very, very harsh environment, very harsh. And I go, you know, for work. Yeah, that's right. I haven't been there, you know, as a new mate. Yeah. I never know. I don't think we want to be there as a new mate. But what we found with the care project is not only that, so we would have two classes per week or three hours each. It was a two hours, two hours each. And so the women would, first of all, look forward to coming because it gave them a chance, a safe space, because one of the things I was adamant about is we want to create a safe space so that they could feel like they could unleash their creativity. And so we gave them some tools, some of them we let them do some, you know, whatever they wanted to do artistically. If they were good at drawing, then they could draw. We were teaching them some different things. I had an art instructor, so for some of them who wanted to learn some different things, we started out with quilling. I don't know if you know what quilling is, paper where you roll it a little coils, and then you make very, you know, different images and things. Yeah, let's take a minute break and then we'll give you a chit-chit. Oh, sure. Okay. Yes, thank you. Hello, everybody. My name is Walter Kawaii. I'm your host for a monthly live streaming video entitled Ukulele Songs of Hawaii, where I bring on guests. We enjoy talking story about the music industry here in Hawaii, sometimes going back 50 decades if possible, and always having some good fun talking with entertainers. We're here located at Think Tech, Hawaii, downtown Honolulu at the Pioneer Plaza building and in their studios. So join me next month for Ukulele Songs of Hawaii. Welcome back to Perspectives on Global Justice. Think Tech Hawaii. This is your host Beatrice Cantamo, and we are here with Ruby Menon. So as we were, you know, talking about what you have noticed with the changes as individuals started to participate from care projects. So a safe space. That's when we stopped. Yes. So yeah, so we created a safe space for them to come and be creative. And we started, at first, we weren't quite sure, you know, we wanted to give the women some decision in what they wanted to create. So we started out with drawings, with quilling, eventually one of the inmates who was a master at crocheting came in and taught the other inmates how to crochet. And they made like amazing stuff. And one of the stories I can tell about the whole crochet period was that one of the women came in, she didn't know how to crochet. And so Sabrina showed her how. And she started making, so she, her family was on the big island and she had four children. But because of their distance, she didn't get to see them that often. And so she had this idea of making stuff for her kids. And so she made like scarves and little hats and gloves and all kinds of really adorable things. So she had children in different, you know, young ages. And her husband contacted me and said, okay, I will put money on her books so that you can send me these, these, these things so that, you know, go through the care project. And then my kids can get these items. And so that's what we did. And then he sends a photo back with the children wearing the hat, the gloves, the scarves. And we brought the picture into her so she could see. And I mean, of course, it was a totally emotional moment. You know, she was so happy that her kids were able to get these, these, these things that she made for them to create that personal connection. And then all the other women started looking and going like, I want to make stuff for my family too. You know, so they just, and I had, I mean, I didn't plan this, they did this. This came out organically out of, you know, the care project. Well, that's the beauty of projects is that, you know, a lot of times you plan to see the, but you have no control of how it will grow. And the fruits that it will, you know, generate and the ripple effect, you know, also. Yeah. And so that is just so neat. And it's just so important to, I know a lot of families when they are separated because of, you know, incarceration times, they don't really have this opportunity to have these nurturing connections. And can you imagine just getting like a scarf or anything that's needed with a lover from? Well, imagine how our kids must have felt like they've got, they felt connected to mom because I'm wearing something that she made for me, you know. And so that's what our program has been able to facilitate for our artists. That's beautiful. And so now we're, you know, we're working, we're trying to launch this at the men's prison as well because right now it's only at the women's prison. And we also sell the artwork on our website at www.worknetink.org. And so, you know, one of the things that I've, right now I'm pretty much the only one who's handling all of this and because I have a day job and a bunch of other things I try, I do my best to try and market and sell their artwork. So I try to go through social media. I'm hoping to have a little show at the Impact Hub in Akaako. I've already started to talk to them so that my next iteration of this is to be able to have a little art show so that people can be more exposed to their stuff. And recently we had the opportunity to participate in the Purple Prize. So let's talk about what is Purple Prize for our viewers who don't know what it is. Yeah, the Purple Prize is an awesome, awesome program. I can't think their price is enough. So what they are is an accelerator but is rooted in Hawaiian values as the foundation of our social impact project. And that's their focus, social impact project. Let's talk about Hawaiian values in the context of Purple Prize a little bit. So what they taught us, our first few classes were actually going out into nature and understanding these amazing systems, these water management systems that our ancient Hawaiians built with the whole fish pond water management system from 700 years ago. And it just blew my mind. It's like these people didn't have computers they could go and Google that stuff and figure out how the heck did they even figure this stuff out? It's just amazing. And they just figured out this amazing system of what they call indigenous technology that we're actually going back to now to relearn these systems of how everything is interdependent. We cannot do something here and expect for it not to have a ripple effect over here. So we have to have that connection. So they really tried to root us into that foundation so that we thought about how we're building our project or program or technology with that in mind for so to have a bigger social impact. And so our project was accepted in what they call the connection space. And I was challenged with at first, you know, the big part of it is that they want you to figure out a technology component because they want to move this into the 21st century. And I was really racking my brain like how what am I going to do for technology? I mean this is like this is artwork and you know showing in the gallery. I just had like a very, you know, blinders on. And I had this amazing experience. I went to this show at the Arts at Marx and the circus performer created augmented reality so that we would look through our phones through different parts of his experience his performance and we would see all these like different objects coming into the environment and we had like a multi-sensory experience and it was a wow moment. And the next morning I woke up talked to my husband at the kitchen table. I don't know that kitchen table spawned a lot of ideas. It's a magic. It's a magic carpet. It's a magic carpet. It's a magic carpet. And we were talking about how much we love that experience and how wonderful it was and the wow moments. And then all of a sudden I thought well what if I did that with the art? Like what if I did augmented reality with the art? And then I started like researching and realizing that augmented reality is being used now with art and people are going into galleries with their phones and pointing their phones at the at the image and then having a multi-sensory augmented reality experience with it. So that's what I had suggested at the purple prize to be my technology piece is to have that AR layer for some of the pieces. So that's my next iteration. That's the new iteration of the care project now which is to bring it into the 21st century with augmented reality. And I'm hoping to do that with one piece when we do our show. I'm thinking probably of the whale. I love the whale because it has so much I don't know if you can show that whale again. Oh yeah. So it has a lot of fluidity and movement so I'm hoping to do something with that image of augmented reality. That is just so neat. So and the artists get to hear about the evolution of the project also like from what is happening from beginning to like now with like these new additions, new spaces. Yeah because Mo Kalaikai is now our art instructor at the women's prison. So he's teaching them a lot of stuff because he's such a brilliant artist. So let's talk about Mo a little bit. Was he one of the alumni of the care project? So interestingly enough how Mo, so Mo was a client I think a while ago and then you know he we found him a job as an artist in a t-shirt shop and every and so when I was building the care project at first I was looking at community artists because we didn't we weren't in the prison yet and everybody would tell me you've got to talk to this guy Mo but we didn't know like how to find him or anything. One day Mo shows up at work net and apparently just like that. Just like that. He lost his job. They got laid off and he came to us to help him find another job and at that time Warren who was working with us like you know came to me says Ruby Ruby this is the guy I've been telling you about you've got to come and meet him you know so and I did and I started talking to him about the project and he was all in after that and then we recruited a couple of other artists and that's how we started the care project was with him. These other two artists one artist now has a very successful tattoo shop and the other artist she's kind of taking care of her grandkids right now so she's not so much involved in her art but Mo is our principal artist he's and we we now he is one of our employees at work net as our resident artist so he creates a lot of the artwork and he also features the women at the women's prison and eventually when we launch it at the men's prison he will be also the art instructor there. That is wonderful and so any plans to work with our jovi correctional system because I imagine this would be so embraced by our teenagers also young adults our juvenile. Oh juvenile no we we haven't really thought about that yet. Maybe there is a seat there. There's always yeah I mean if we can get some more funding for this and we can start to expand it my hope is that we can prototype the project here have it be successful and then start to launch it in prisons across the United States because there's artistic talent locked up in our prisons you know nationally and if we can give all the artists some type of vehicle you know where they can actually showcase their artwork and market and sell their artwork I think that would be huge you know because the other ancillary things that people don't realize is that when I go back into the prison and I tell the women or our artists like you're sort of sold the self-esteem is priceless you know you can't put money on that you can't put a monetary value on that it just validates them it makes them feel like they've got something value to offer the community you know so I just think that there's so many amazing byproducts of this this project not only the fact that they could earn some money but all the the self-esteem and then the break the changing of hearts and minds I mean there's just so many different things that are so cool about this it's just beautiful I mean I can't believe we are at the end of our program for today but I have two invitations for you one is that you come back as a guest in the near future again for part two of this beautiful venture that we started and that you bring you know Mo and other artists that you know are now maybe on probation or they're already you know in the community so that we can also continue you know to hear this beautiful love story from that perspective as well you know oh I'd love to yeah this is wonderful well thank you so much for this vision thank you so much for letting me tell my story about absolutely and this you know magic table that you have in your kitchen on this beautiful partnership with your husband and with the community at large and that may this beautiful project you know expanded to the man's correctional systems here in Hawaii very smoothly and be successful and you know reach out to our nationwide thank you thank you hello ha