Keeping in contact with your incarcerated loved one is proven to positively impact their mental health and overall well being. One of the best ways to keep up your relationship with them — next to in-person visits and phone calls — is to send them photos of your family and what is going on in your lives. Photographs can be a great way to brighten your inmate’s day and is a possession they will cherish. However, there are rules and regulations in place in regards to inmates receiving photos. The Pelipost team has put together these tips for how many pictures you can send to someone in jail.
Check With the Facility
The first thing to keep in mind is that rules and regulations vary from facility to facility when it comes to sending mail to inmates. As a general rule of thumb, it is a good idea to check with the specific correctional facility your loved one is located at before sending them photos. Most of the time this can be confirmed through the facility’s website, but if you are still unsure, we recommend calling the facility directly. It is better to check beforehand to ensure that your photos will be accepted rather than returned to you by the facility.
Cap It at 50
Although it is important to double check with your incarcerated loved one’s specific facility, most jails and prisons allow inmates to have up to 50 photos in their possession. As the sender, you should keep track of the number of photographs you send to make sure they get to keep the pictures that are most important. Before sending the photos, make sure they follow these guidelines for appropriate content that the correctional facility will accept.
Talk With Your Loved One
Your incarcerated loved one is a great resource to find out information about their facility. Ask them directly: how many pictures you can send to someone jail? Are there any rules or regulations that I should be aware of?
If your inmate has had the same group of photos for a while and is ready for a refresh, they may not tell you up front. The next time you talk to your inmate, ask if they might want new photos. If they’ve reached their photo limit, they may be ready for more recent images of family celebrations and holidays, and willing to retire a few. Especially if any family members have experienced life-changing events, like graduating, getting their first car, meeting Santa for the first time, or getting married. Photos of these events will be a welcome addition for your loved one. We recommend sharing as much as you can!
Let Pelipost Help You Out
Once you are ready to send photos to your inmate, make sure to download Pelipost and follow these steps for an overall smooth transaction. Pelipost does not have a cap for the amount of photos you can send through the app, but the team will work with you to fit the guidelines from your loved one’s prison. With Pelipost, you can stay connected to your incarcerated loved one easily and securely, and include them in your family’s big events through photographic mementos.
Sending photos to a loved one while they are incarcerated can be a great way to lift their spirits and foster your relationship during a difficult time. Staying connected to someone in jail can help their well-being — both emotionally and behaviorally — and can increase their chances of successful rehabilitation and good life choices upon release. If you are ready to send a photo to an inmate, but don’t know where to start, Pelipost has created a list of ideas for what kind of pictures to send to your incarcerated loved one.
Smiles of Family and Friends
Your inmate probably misses seeing the smiling faces of loved ones on a day to day basis. Seeing friends and family members through a photograph may not be the same, but can be a great way to lift spirits during a tough time and remind inmates that they are not alone. These types of photos are best with a clear background and no objects, tattoos, or hand symbols pictured.
Special Events
Whether it’s a wedding, birthday, holiday, or accomplishment, your incarcerated loved one probably feels as if they are missing out on big moments in life. Capturing photos of special events and sending them to your incarcerated loved one can help them to feel included in your life and share in the joy that you felt during these big moments.
Pictures of Pets
Who doesn’t love seeing a photo of an adorable, happy pet? Your loved one is probably missing the warmth and cuddles from their furry friend while incarcerated, and seeing a photo of their beloved pet can brighten their spirits. Whether your pet is covered in feathers, scales, or fur, a cute photo of them is a great memento to send to your inmate.
Drawings From Kids
A drawing from a child is a heartwarming gift that will bring a smile to your loved one’s face. Children often express emotions through drawing pictures and giving them to loved ones, which does not have to change while that person is in jail. Sending photos of drawings can be a great way for both the child and the inmate to feel connected to one another during their time spent apart. By having a child create a special piece for your incarcerated loved one, they can also process emotions they might be feeling while missing your loved one.
Happy Memories
Reflecting on happy memories can help us to feel the joy we did in those precious moments. Photos of past holidays, vacations, milestones, and other happy memories can bring joy to your inmate. Sending an image of a cherished memory will remind your incarcerated loved one of good times, and how much they are loved.
While there are many great ways to cheer up your inmate during your time apart, these photo ideas will definitely bring a smile to their face. Now that you have likely collected a bevy of images to send to your incarcerated loved one, make sure to download Pelipost for a seamless shipping process. Before you send, click here to learn more about what you’re allowed to send to a prison to ensure your photos make it to your loved one.
Pelipost is more than an app devoted to printing pictures for your incarcerated loved ones. We believe in the importance of family reintegration far exceeds the physical product in hand. REMAINING CONNECTED is the BIGGER PICTURE.
In this two-part blog series we sat down with our very own co-founder, Becky Calderon, to explore the significant importance PRINTED photos had while incarcerated.
“You feel like a failure at the time, you know your story has more to offer. You have to constantly remind yourself that prison doesn’t define my worth.”
– Becky Calderon
LIVING FOR PRISON MAIL CALL
When you’re in prison, all you have is time. You almost forget that life exists. You block it all out. You see the fences, you see the walls. You cope as best you can. With that said, there was one thing that kept us all rooted in hope for the future. MAIL CALL. We would LIVE FOR MAIL CALL. This is how we remained connected and informed with the world outside of our cell. We were all in prison for different reasons but unified by this longing to know we were more than our worst mistakes.
Letters were cherished but to receive an envelope with photos was the ultimate prize. Even just feeling the outside ridges of the envelope and knowing there was photos inside brought so much emotion… It’s hard to describe in words. I guess you could say, there was an unspoken understanding in there. We all simply longed for VALIDATION. Printed photos allowed our stories outside to come to life. We shared them, we celebrated, we mourned, we anticipated them with great excitement. It reminded us we are more than our current situation. We once had lives, passions, families, relationships, hobbies, skills, interests, stories that defined us outside of the prison walls. We are missed and treasured by others awaiting our release.
CELEBRATING IN PRISON
I shared a cell with 8 women, lovingly referred to as ‘cellies’. We each had different stories and reasons for their incarceration. Since we were in a maximum security facility… some stories were harder than others. One was an older woman. Her daughter had just given birth to her first grandchild. She was elated with the news and would beg for pictures of the new baby she would meet in the years to come. The new mom was so busy readjusting and overwhelmed with this new life that it took her so long to finally find the time to send her mom photos. When that day came…. We CELEBRATED alongside our cellie with great pride! It was as if the child’s arrival had just happened all over again for the first time.
MOURNING IN PRISON
There was also a younger woman who had about 7 years remaining on her sentence. Her mother would come often and visit with her in the beginning of her sentence. She was older and unfortunately suffered a heart-related issue and wasn’t able to travel easily after that. This cellie LIVED for her mother’s visits. Once the mother’s visits stopped you can imagine how heartbreaking it was to her spirit. She would plead with her siblings… ‘send me pictures of MOM… I just want to see her face and know she’s alright’. I remember thinking ‘send this girl photos of her mother, she may not be alive when she gets out of here’. I hurt so badly for her. As a mother, I was fighting cancer inside the prison walls and understood the fear of leaving my son in an immediate way.
VALUE YOUR INCARCERATED LOVED ONES
If you want your incarcerated loved ones to fight the staggering statistics of recidivism… INCLUDE THEM IN THEIR STORIES. VALIDATE their worth (outside of their poor choices). There was a cellie who had three children and five years remaining on her sentence. The problem was she kept getting into more and more trouble inside. I kept thinking ‘Don’t you even want to get out for your children?’ To be fair, she was never in her children’s lives to begin with… I used to pray that her family would include her in those kids lives and send her photos of them growing up. If only she communicated with them a little more often, I wonder if that wouldn’t have given her greater purpose and hope for reconciling those relationships.
PRINTED PHOTOS GIVE HOPE
Sometimes customers assume we are disconnected from their stories and the struggles they face. I make sure to remind them of my own story and extend grace and understanding because incarceration is just so painful on so many levels. We care because WE KNOW HOW VITAL PHOTOS ARE in there! I want to bring that joy and validation because I felt that joy firsthand. When I finally got the picture of Joseph and that DAMN CAR (his first new car)… I was so happy! It plays such a huge part of our story. Little did we know at the time how incredible that printed photo would be to the future. Because of that photo, because of our separation, because of my worst mistakes… We now have this beautiful service impacting the lives of hundreds of thousands of families with incarcerated loved ones across the United States.
That being said, the impact is tangible and it feels so good. We have customers that have sent over 70 orders during these past three years. To read their notes… ‘Thank you so much for your service. He’s out. We’re not going to need you anymore.’ This is why we do what we do with such pride and dedication to our customers. We see how powerfully important our service is to the future reintegration process of their loved ones.
Don’t forget to send your incarcerated loved ones photos this holiday season! You can download the Pelipost app through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
Pelipost is more than just an app for sending photos to your incarcerated loved ones. Pelipost has a story, much like your own. We are so excited to share our story with you in our new PeliPeople series! This is part one of Joe’s Story Outside Incarceration. (Read about Becky’s Story Inside Incarceration here).
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“I did my best to keep her spirits up.”
-Joe Calderon
My New Reality
Shortly after my mom’s sentencing, she was transferred from the county jail to a state prison. I realized this was my new reality. A reality that many people often only see on TV shows or documentaries. The instant communication that I had enjoyed all my life with mom, was taken away. Our chats were reduced to letters and bi-weekly 20 minute phone calls. I cherished those brief phone calls. I would highlight what was happening on the outside, and learn what was happening with her on the inside. I did my best to keep her spirits up.
Visitation was the hardest challenge. When a loved one is incarcerated, no one gets a say on which facility they go to. The corrections system doesn’t care that you want your loved one to be close for visitation. It doesn’t care where your nearest family member lives. That’s exactly what happened to my mom.
My mom ended up in Chowchilla, CA, which was an 8 hour drive in the middle of nowhere. There were no major airports in the area so flying was out of the question. My only option was to drive. Visitation hours started at 9am on Sundays. In order to maximize my visitation time, I had to leave my house in San Diego, CA at 1 AM. It was hard. It was long. But I knew I had to do it. I made this drive as often as I could. I knew WITHOUT A DOUBT in my heart, my mom would have done the same for me.
Her Condition Revealed
I didn’t know my mom’s cancer had returned while she was in prison. I found out during one of our Sunday morning visits. I had my suspicions when my mom tried to persuade me not to visit her. I knew that she was only trying to protect me and keep me focused on my studies. I remember seeing my mom walk out into the visitation room, looking so frail and thin from the radiation treatment she had recently undergone. I tried my hardest to hold back my tears. Despite the physical toll the treatment took on my mom, she still had a smile on her face when she saw me.
Joe and Becky during Visitation. Joe’s Story Outside Incarceration
It was after the visit, and after seeing my mom in that frail state, that I came to face the strong possibility that my mom could die in prison. During her treatment, I felt helpless. It drove me crazy that I had no control over when I could see her, or even be there for her procedures. Knowing that she was being transported to her doctor in a prison van instead of taking her myself, was difficult to swallow. Even though I couldn’t be there physically, I never stopped supporting my mom and always kept a positive attitude when I spoke to her on the phone.
Thankfully, she beat the cancer, and was scheduled for release six months later. It was during this time that we would discover the need for a photo sharing service to stay connected with incarcerated loved ones…
Discovering a Need
During the last six months of my mom’s sentence, I graduated from college, landed a great job and bought myself my first car (Chrysler 300) as a graduation present. During our brief phone calls, I would tell my mom about all these things going on in my life. She would always say, “Son, send me pictures of your car!” I would always respond, “I will, mom.” However, between my new job, caring for my grandparents, and life demands, I’d keep forgetting to run to the store to print and mail them out.
One day, I remember thinking to myself ‘I have thousands of pictures on my phone. I wish there was a service that could print and send my photos for me. It would be so much easier to stay connected with my mom.’ The idea stuck with me and upon my mom’s release, we got down to business and launched a mobile app called Pelipost…
Becky and Joe. Joe’s Story Outside Incarceration
There’s more to our story! Sign-up for the Pelipost email newsletter below to be notified once we release the next part of our story!
Don’t forget to send your incarcerated loved ones photos this holiday season! You can download the Pelipost app through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
Pelipost has just launched a new series devoted to the stories of those impacted inside and outside of incarceration called PeliPeople. In honor of that, we began this series by sharing our founder’s stories first. This is part two of Becky’s Story Inside Incarceration…. (get caught up with part one here)
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‘I decided to use my time in prison to get my life right… for good.’
-Becky Calderon
The day of my sentencing and at the peak of my alcoholism, I arrived at the courthouse drunk. My lawyer had all but guaranteed I’d get house arrest. With that being said, there was still a slight possibility of prison time. In the back of my mind, I remembered thinking ‘No worries, they always give you time to surrender after sentencing.’ I walked in, faced the judge, and the lawyers pled my case. I received a 3-year prison sentence. To my shock, they ordered me into immediate custody. That morning, I walked out of my home expecting to return and never did.
Becky and Joe Before Sentencing – Becky’s Story Inside Incarceration (Pt. 2)
Joe did not attend my hearing because he was away at college. When taken into custody, all I could think about was not being given the chance to hug and hold my son. I just wanted to reassure him that everything would be fine. This truly drove me insane during the first few days of incarceration. Until my first phone call with Joe, I could then (mentally) settle in and begin doing my time. My boy still loved me, that was exactly what I needed to hear in order to face what was ahead.
The Burden of My Choices
Once in prison, all of the burden was left on Joe and my parents. He moved my stuff out of my home and handled all the loose ends I had unknowingly left behind. It was a lot of pressure on him. He was just beginning his adult life and now he faced a whole new load of responsibilities, I never wanted him to carry. This fueled my purpose and while incarcerated, I decided to use my time in prison to get my life right… for good. I joined every support and resource group available. This sentencing was a huge lesson for me. All the time I had been given would be used to reflect and learn from everything and everybody around me.
The biggest way that my life changed in prison was that the rushing stopped. For the first time, in soooo many years, I had to simply stop, be with myself, my thoughts, and think about my life. I began to understand and respect the word ‘PATIENCE’ in a whole new light. I had been diagnosed with cancer for the past two decades at this point and I always felt rushed. Rushed to fit in ALL MY LIFE in as little time as possible. ‘Hurry, we need to go here, we need to do this, go there, get that… Hurry, I don’t have much time left to live.’ Prison doesn’t care if you have cancer or if you have less time to live than someone else. You wait in line for everything… PERIOD.
Living in a Box
Once the fear of being incarcerated passed, it simply became a way of life. I started to see that a person can live in a box and make it work. Because of my ongoing health needs, I was sentenced to Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, a maximum security prison which housed everyone from white collar to violent offenders.
This new slower way of life taught me how to be patient, how to be present, and take the time I DO have to enjoy or at least observe what is going on in each moment. I love the word ‘PATIENCE’ now. By staying in touch through letters, visits, phone calls and photos, my friends and family helped tremendously in keeping my spirits up while incarcerated.
Being on the inside, we had nothing to keep us ticking… until…MAIL CALL. The excitement and value you feel when you receive a letter from someone on the outside is unlike anything else. It gives you a boost of strength to know that you are thought about and you are still connected with the outside world.
Letters are great surprises during mail call, however the real MVP is receiving photos. To receive pictures from home was a celebration in the cell. It didn’t matter who received them, they were always shared with those around you. It’s like saying ‘SEE! This is my real life outside of these walls. I am just here because of circumstances, but I won’t be forever.’ Things you don’t think about, until you’re digitally disconnected from your loved ones.
The Worst Day In Prison
During my incarceration, my cancer took an ugly turn for the worst. I needed to go to the hospital to get radiation doses and it did not look good for me. Joe knew nothing about my condition because this was occurring during his finals week. I didn’t want that news to impact or distract him from his studies. I did, however, confide in his dad so if something were to happen he would be ready to handle things accordingly.
The worst day of my life was my son’s college graduation date. I was laying in a hospital bed in prison, painfully sick from radiation treatment, and my family and friends were out celebrating Joe’s college graduation day without me. I’ve never felt more alone. I don’t know why I didn’t die that day. Thankfully, my life kept pushing forward fueled by my love for my son.
Shortly after Joe’s graduation, I made it out of the hospital and went back to lock-up. During this time, Joe had so many positive things going on in his life. He had just landed a great job and bought his first brand new car for his graduation present. When he’d call to catch up, he would tell me about all things happening and I would say ‘Son, send me pictures. I want to see your new car!’ and he’d say ‘I will, mom. I will.’ Next week, we’d talk and I’d say ‘Son, send me pictures of your new car!’ and he’d say ‘Aww man, mom. I’m sorry, I keep forgetting, things have been so busy. I promise. I’ll get to it.’ At some point, he realized there had to be an easier way for people to send photos to their incarcerated loved ones.
The photo that started it all: Joe and his new car. Becky’s Story Inside Incarceration (Pt. 2)
Life After Prison
When I was released from prison, Joe was still contemplating this problem and wanting to develop a better solution for sending photos. I said ‘Well son, I’m alive, I believe in you, and if this is where my path leads, then let’s do this.’ Having firsthand experience, I understood how it felt to receive photos from the outside. Witnessing the joy that photos of children and grandchildren brought their incarcerated loved ones was PRICELESS.
Our success is due to our entire experience. You HAVE to have experienced the need, the joy, the overall meaning of what you are doing to provide a service of this nature. What makes us successful is that our heart is in it. The most important thing I learned during my time in prison was that although we are incarcerated, we are still alive, and want to feel included in people’s lives on the outside.
And this is what Pelipost provides: an ability to keep families easily connected with their incarcerated loved ones through photos. We do it because we get it, and we truly do care! This makes us work harder to get things done right.
Sign-up for the Pelipost email newsletter! You will first to be to notified once we release the next part of our story soon!
Don’t forget to send your incarcerated loved ones photos this holiday season! You can download the Pelipost app through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
