Colorful Backgrounds EXPO Monthly Community Meeting – March 29th, 2023

Please share this information with anyone who might be interested in this program! A monthly meeting open to the public, happening the 3rd Wednesday of every month. These gatherings build community, provide vital information on available resources, feature guest speakers, as well as opportunities for much-needed peer support and connections between the formerly incarcerated, their […]

Colorful Backgrounds EXPO 2023 Cohort Starts Soon!

On Tuesday, March 7 – Tuesday, May 23, the next Colorful Backgrounds EXPO cohort begins. Colorful Backgrounds EXPO (Ex-Incarcerated People Organizing) is a program chartered by Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network and West End P.O.W.E.R. to train formerly incarcerated people to organize for change in the criminal justice system and build their employment prospects with a […]

Congratulations to the 18 Graduates 2022 Colorful Backgrounds EXPO

We are pleased to announce the 18 graduates of the Colorful Background Expo. These individuals have demonstrated their dedication and hard work to reach this point, and we are confident they will continue to excel in their future endeavors. We welcome them as members of our community and know they will be great leaders and […]

Ten Years Since Sandy Hook: A Vigil For Change

In December 2012, a tragedy occurred when 20 children and 6 educators were brutally slain at Sandy Hook Elementary School. We’ve lost far too many to gun violence in the years since, with 15,000 people from Pennsylvania alone having become victims. This is an epidemic that needs to be addressed and resolved as soon as […]

Interfaith Prayer Action – Updates from Sept. 1’s Event

On Thursday, Sept 1st Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network (PIIN) hosted an Interfaith Prayer Action prior to the September Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board Meeting. Members of PIIN, Abolitionist Law Center, Alliance for Police Accountability, Reach, and West End POWER joined together to honor the 16 victims who have died in the jail since March 2020. […]

When the System Does Not Work!

The judicial system in America is promulgated to sustain a caste system. The bedrock of any caste system is to preserve privilege, nurture greed and undergird power. Racism is the bedrock of America’s caste system! On November 18th, in Kenosha, Wisconsin a jury of his peers found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges. Six […]

Rally! Join us November 12 to Support the Elderly and Infirm Incarcerated Community

On Friday, November 12 at 11:30 am, at the City-County Building in downtown Pittsburgh, PIIN will join Straight Ahead, prisoners’ rights groups, and the families of incarcerated elders to support state legislation that provides parole opportunities for aging and chronically ill community members in Pennsylvania state prisons. Incarcerated elders who are either terminally ill, no […]

Justice Wins!

PIIN congratulates APA for this overwhelming victory: 69% of Allegheny County voters approved strict limits on solitary confinement at the County Jail! 81% of City of Pittsburgh voters approved the banning of no-knock warrants! How PIIN helped: We collected over 2,000 signatures to put these measures on the ballot. We reached hundreds of voters on […]

A City Divided: Race, Fear, and the Law in Police Confrontations

Dr. David Harris On July 26, 2020, David Harris gave a sobering presentation, looking backward and forward into the future, pondering the challenges of Public Safety in our time. We hope you were able to join, but if you missed it or would like to watch it again, you can see the recording of the […]