Austin Buddhist Prison Projects

Pen Pal Programs

Many inmates discover Buddhism while behind bars as they search for more effective ways to live their lives. More often than not the support they require to begin and sustain Buddhist practice in simply not available, either inside or outside of prison. But quite a few people manage to find the addresses of Buddhist organizations like the Buddhist Peace Fellowship or the Austin Zen Center and request pen pals to provide a connection to the Buddhist world.

A number of Austin Buddhists provide such connections, some have sustained very rewarding correspondence for many years. If you would like to provide this connection for one or more inmates, please contact the penpal coordinator. We have letters from inmates requesting pen pals.

Connecting Up with a Penpal.

Send a note to Penpal Adminstrator (penpals @ prisonprojects.austinbuddhist.org).

Tips and Precautions.

Please use our PO Box as a return address.

Protecting Anonymity.

For security reasons we recommend that you use the following return address for all inmate correspondence.

your name
c/o Zen Prison Projects
PO Box 300741
Austin, TX 78703

This PO Box will be checked periodically and you will be notified when a letter arrives.

Resources.

Buddhist Peace Fellowship Prison Penpal Guidelines (very useful)
Useful Paragraphs to Insert in Your Letters.
Useful Texts to Print and Send