Enriching the Lives of Children of Incarcerated Individuals Through Music and Mentoring

There is a large sector of our society that is imprisoned yet without bars – the children of prison inmates!

1 in every 28 children in the United States has a parent in prison (source).

These children are 72% more likely than other children and youth to be involved in juvenile or adult corrections themselves (source).

Trauma, forced separation from a parent, and economic, social and emotional burdens are thrust into children’s lives when a parent is incarcerated. They become vulnerable to a host of situations which can leave them devastated and more likely to follow in their parent’s footsteps.

SWAN’s Goals and Objectives are to provide the following:

• Private music lessons to the children of incarcerated individuals
• Ensemble training for these children
• Opportunities for them to perform at various community venues
• Citizen Advocates to befriend, support and encourage the children and their families
• Varied after-school programs for the children
• Skillful, entertaining concerts performed by SWAN musicians and enrolled students

SWAN offers children help and hope by giving them skills to scale their walls a note at a time.

SWAN is currently operating out of the Lancaster County, PA area.