Free Minds uses books and creative writing to empower young inmates to transform their lives. They work with 16 and 17 year old youths who have been charged and incarcerated as adults. They mentor and support the young men through the entire incarceration, helping them see the potential they have. Once they turn 18, members are transferred to federal prisons throughout the country, as DC has no long term prison. Free Minds Book Club has three stages that their members go through: DC Jail Book Club, Federal Prison Book Club and finally Reentry Book Club. Throughout the process they are encouraged to read and write, allowing their innermost thoughts to be put down on paper. Members are also being shown how to live as normal as life as possible once they are released. In this episode I talked with Julia Mascioli, Director of Development and Communications, and with Hosea Stevens, a poet ambassador for the Free Minds Book Club.