By Danielle Brown
“Girl Scouts Beyond Bars helped a lot with me getting to see my mom. Some people have parents in jail and don’t get to visit them at all,” Amber Rush said.
While she was in jail [my sister and I] were able to build a relationship with her.”
Beyond Bars is a free program for girls in St. Louis with mothers incarcerated at Vandalia or Chillicothe Women’s Correctional Centers.
I struggled with parenting them and still struggle with it now because they’ve already been raised. I’m not trying to be your sister or your friend, but I feel like their sister because my mom raised [us], she raised them.
Mallory rush
Incarcerated mothers and their daughters have been building and strengthening their relationships on behalf of Beyond Bars since 1996. The program provides transportation for monthly meetings and several bonding activities including arts and crafts, STEM projects, and more.
Amber and her twin sister Autumn have been part of the program since they were little. Their mother Mallory went to prison for 12 years after being caught up in a large brawl, which she contends was not her fault. She was released in 2020.
Amber, Autumn, and Mallory’s story is why LaTonya Logan, Community Troop Manager at Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri said she loves her job and what motivates her.
“I wanted to do this job because mother-daughter relationships are so important,” Logan said. “I’m fortunate my mom has always been there. I don’t even know what that could feel like [now I’m a mom] thinking of being away from my child.”
