Healing Broken Circles is changing stigma toward incarceration from the inside

Before she was the executive director of an organization seeking to change the stigma toward people who have been incarcerated or affected by the justice system, Kendra Hovey was the one whose perception shifted.

In 2013, Hovey attended a TEDx Talk inside Marion Correctional Institution organized by Healing Broken Circles (HBC), the organization she now leads, covering the event as a journalist. For the arts and culture writer, that one day changed her entire life.

“I thought I was going in without really any judgement and with an open mind. When I got there, I was having the greatest time. I was having the most interesting conversations — the performances were amazing," Hovey said.

Initially going into the day with no expectations, Hovey said, when asked how the experience compared to what she thought it would be, she found herself surprised to say she was having a great time.

“I realized my answer surprised me, and just that surprise — it told me I was expecting something else," she said.

"And that was just the beginning. I feel like I got my humanity handed to me that day.”

After immediately getting involved, Hovey, four years later, assumed the title of executive director of the Columbus-based nonprofit in 2017. She has since led HBC in its mission to provide opportunities for those impacted by the justice system to heal, learn and thrive.

A goal to give back: Radio Unbound is trying to fill the void of WWCD loss

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the nonprofit organized programming for incarcerated people within prisons. The organization has since pivoted to serving both people inside and outside the prison system and jails.

Much of HBC's work is through the arts, centering the talents, voices and creativity of individuals impacted by mass incarceration through the nonprofit's creative collective, "The Backwall."

In September, the organization was awarded a $130,000 ArtsHERE grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to help HBC expand its operations.

Just as Hovey herself saw her internal stereotypes change, much of the work through the arts and programming is to change not only the external stigmas toward the justice system, but also the self-image of those affected by incarceration through showing them respect, providing them agency and creating opportunities for them to have the freedom to explore.

“It’s just a privilege to watch people fully express themselves and find something in themselves, know something more about themselves,” Hovey said.

Now that the organization has expanded outside the prison and doesn't have the set building space, HBC is looking for a new facility to serve as a community center for its programming. Currently, the nonprofit is partnering with community facilities to operate some of its programming.

This includes a fatherhood program for incarcerated dads at Franklin County Community Based Correctional Facility and a partnership with the public library system for the youth HOPE Program, led by Healing Broken Circles' director of youth and creative programming, Michael Powell.

Powell himself was previously incarcerated at Marion Correctional Institution. The rapper, poet, actor and "sometimes speaker" started co-facilitating programming with HBC to help his fellow inmates when he was still in prison after he first got involved with the GPS (growth, potential and self-awareness) program.

Helping escape homelessness: Glen Tuomaala creates fresh start for people exiting homelessness through art

He got out of prison in the height of COVID-19 as HBC figured out how to pivot its programming to accommodate the inability to meet in-person inside the prisons. From there, The Backwall creative collective was born.

“If you were already impacted, I would say to them, 'It’s not that it doesn’t matter, but this is not who you are now,'" he said.

"You’ve got the opportunity now to change the way you feel about yourself. Not even whatever other people think of you or whatever the stigma is. You have the chance now to change the way you feel about you.”

Before HBC board member Malik Moore moved to Columbus and began pouring support into HBC's mission. He was a child growing up in Philadelphia watching his older brother constantly move in and out of the prison system.

“As a kid, there were these reflection moments, like one of the early questions I asked myself was, ‘What would I have done if I was alive when slavery existed?’" Moore said.

“I saw early-on parallels between slavery and the criminal justice system.”

Even as a kid, Moore knew he wanted to one day make a difference for families going through the same things his was experiencing. He says HBC helps families find a space of healing.

“It is taking these patterns that easily become part of your identity. Whether you wanted it or not, you’re from the addict family, or whether you wanted it or not, you’re from the criminal family," Moore said.

"Healing Broken Circles helps an addict and a criminal become an artist, someone who is strengthening community."

This article was made possible by support from the Center for HumanKindness at The Columbus Foundation, which has partnered with The Columbus Dispatch to profile those making our community a better place. Help us inspire kindness by suggesting people, initiatives, or organizations for Reporter Sophia Veneziano to profile. She can be reached at sveneziano@dispatch.com. Learn more at Dispatch.com/Kindness.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Healing Broken Circles uses arts to reveal humanity in incarceration