Storybook Dads program helping father figures in prison stay connected
NANAIMO — Reading a book to your child is a special moment treasured by parents. Unfortunately it’s an opportunity many have lost due to being incarcerated.
A volunteer-based program by the Nanaimo Region John Howard Society is helping keep the connection between a father and a child, even during a prison stint.
In the Storybook Dads program, the person at the Nanaimo Correctional Centre is recorded reading a children’s book. The recording is then edited and sent to their child with a copy of the book, to be listened to while reading along.
Volunteer David Jilks, who’s helped inmates stay connected with their family through the program, said it’s a valuable program which means the world to the inmates.