Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Keeley And Lorenzo B. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Keeley and Lorenzo, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Half of our business/platform is Lorenzo, who has been incarcerated for the last 10 years. In the beginning, his family visited him frequently but as the years went on the time between visits stretched out further and further. This is a common trend for those behind bars, especially with longer sentences. A number of things contribute to this- health issues, distance as they’re moved around the state, finances, personal issues, etc. I came into his life about 6-7 years into his sentence and our partnership has benefited his life in many positive ways. He went from feeling like he had no driving purpose or support in his life to achieving goals that he can be proud of and will benefit him for years to come. His experience compelled him to start this platform we created, so he could begin outreach to his peers to help them bridge the gap between the free world and the hopeless concrete box they are sentenced to. Our purpose is to provide a glimmer of hope and redemption to those who may feel like they have no purpose.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

We are a “Penpal” page- the main reason this is the approach we took is due to us making a connection on a Penpal page. We started writing to each other and developed a friendship that evolved into a relationship. Not only do we share profiles of those incarcerated all over the United States, we also provide support for the family members of these individuals by guiding them through any issues they may face or questions they may have. Some of the other things we provide is screening and sharing resources, recent/upcoming events, and facilitation of community support. Laws are constantly changing, human rights are violated, many are going up against the judicial/corrections systems and much more. Having a loved one incarcerated can be very overwhelming and scary… however when we all come together to support one another in major issues, find information and resolve problems it significantly eases the burdens we face. I believe we are set apart from other similar platforms because we make it a point to let those that support us know we are all a part of the same community by being as actively involved as possible. We are extremely proud of all the connections we’ve helped facilitate not only for incarcerated persons but for the family members of those individuals. It is our goal to continue providing support to incarcerated individuals after they find the connection they are looking for by providing support/community to those that have come into their life.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I think being consistent and interacting with those that showed up support are the biggest ways we’ve grown our platform. There were many days it added stress or we wondered if any of this was worth it, but sticking to it definitely payed off in the end. In the social media aspect there’s always going to be negative comments, but especially with the line of work we do it occurs more often than usual. Not letting those comments get to us on a personal level, using them to our advantage to boost engagement, and understanding that regardless of what anyone says what we are doing reduces recidivism at the end of the day has been absolutely crucial to our success and growth.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Being honest, consistent and fair. We treat everyone the same and apply the same rules regardless of who it is. Relationships are complicated to begin with, even removing incarceration from the equation. By providing strict policies it helps the process run smoother for all involved. I do believe that even those who have had a negative interaction in any way related to our platform can understand and respect the way we handle things.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prisonerpenpal?igsh=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@prisonerpenpal?_t=8oqUSZHcuv0&_r=1