A year-long series featuring Detroiters who are driving positive change in their communities.
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Sherelle Hogan, Founder and CEO, Pure Heart Foundation
As a child, both of this millennial’s parents were imprisoned. Now grown, she’s created an organization that provides children of the incarcerated with essential resources meant to break the cycle of generational incarceration.
O ften poor, mostly Black and brown, the children of incarcerated parents are easily forgotten. The “hidden victims” of America’s mass incarceration problem, these children face a unique set of social and emotional challenges that, according to research cited by the Justice Department, make them, on average, six times more likely to be incarcerated themselves. Sherelle Hogan founded the Pure 6 BLAC • MAY 2020 • BLACdetroit.com
Heart Foundation in 2015 to act as anchor for these kids and provide them with necessary resources like mental health care, mentorship and academic enrichment. When Hogan was 6 years old, her mom was incarcerated, and when she was 7, her dad. “I’m almost 30 now, and looking back on my childhood, and even my adulthood, a lot of the barriers and challenges that I had to face throughout life rooted from their
incarceration,” she says. “I wanted to provide a service that I needed when I was younger.” Along with the aforementioned, children – or “scholars” – enrolled in the Pure Heart program enjoy recreational activities and outings. Once a month, the team takes them on field trips that are sometimes educational – and at other times, just plain old fun. “We want to expose them to different avenues
of life, and also give them a sense of normalcy,” Hogan says. They also invest heavily in the children’s mental wealth, offering cognitive therapies; behavioral, emotional and social counseling; restorative circles; meditation and one-on-one sessions. “Children of incarcerated parents experience so much trauma so making sure they’re mentally stable is our No.1 goal, and making sure they know how to navigate
