Olson & Gepford Wedding Fundraiser
for OAR of Arlington, Alexandria, and Falls Church
Instead of a typical wedding registry, we decided we wanted our loved ones to give to one of our favorite nonprofits, OAR of Arlington, Alexandria, and Falls Church! I hope you choose to support an organization we believe in.
OAR is a community-based nonprofit organization that envisions a safe & thriving community where those impacted by the legal system enjoy equal civil & human rights. Through our Upstream work, we are confronting & dismantling individual racism & racism in the legal system & across all systems. Our Downstream work allows us to be on the journey with individuals returning from incarceration & their families. We also offer alternative sentencing options (including community service) and diversion programs so people can avoid the trauma of incarceration & instead help the community thrive. OAR is a collective, non-dominant, decolonizing, pro-Black, racially just, radically joyful, deeply loving, come as you are, liberated organization that puts participants first. We center authentic and fully engaged relationships with all members of the OAR community.
I became aware of OAR when I moved to Arlington in 2010 when I belonged to an organization with a member of their collective. By 2011 I was volunteering and helped to create their first toy drive for their holiday gift program to give toys and gifts to children who have parents experiencing incarceration. In 2012 I joined the OAR Board of Directors and was the board chair from 2015-2018. I also hosted several fundraisers at my home.
I believe in the work OAR does. People coming out of the criminal justice system have nothing but uphill battles with everything they want to accomplish- housing, work, transportation, and changing their environment. When society rejects a person again and again, that person sometimes has no choice but to resort to the behaviors and environments that led them to incarceration in the first place. People want to change, and OAR can be that change agent. They help thousands of people each year.
I hope you chose to support OAR in their quest to give people the lives they want and deserve.
For more information on OAR you can visit their website at oaronline.org