"The Three Billy Goats Gruff ..."

FOUR-YEAR-OLD JASMINE LOVES BOOKS AND THE SOUND OF HER FATHER'S VOICE.

"Once upon a time ...”

BUT JASMINE’S DAD CANNOT READ WITH HER BECAUSE HE’S SERVING 10 YEARS FOR MANSLAUGHTER.

"Oh, it is I."

IRV WILLIAMS WAS LOCKED UP RIGHT AFTER JASMINE WAS BORN. EVERY TWO WEEKS, SHE AND HER BROTHER JONATHAN GO WITH THEIR MOM TO HOPE HOUSE IN WASHINGTON TO TELECONFERENCE WITH THEIR FATHER AT AN OHIO PRISON.

"Hi, sweetheart ...”

Bill Barnes, retired United Methodist minister: “It’s almost like your love muscles are being threatened and weakened.”

RETIRED UNITED METHODIST MINISTER BILL BARNES HAS VISITED MEN IN PRISON, AND SAYS LOVE CAN BE SEEN AS A WEAKNESS IN SUCH A PLACE. STILL, HE INSISTS THAT PROGRAMS LIKE THE ONE AT HOPE HOUSE ARE THE ONLY WAY TO HELP INMATES REFORM.

“I was told that 50 percent of inmates have nobody see them in the course of a year. All these things can help to humanize and, therefore, condition the prisoner for release.”

Irv Williams reading poem: "We are sorry we can't do all the special things that fathers and children do. I can not begin to imagine the pain you are being forced to deal with because of me."

THREE MILLION CHILDREN ARE CARRYING THE BURDEN OF THEIR PARENTS’ PRISON SENTENCES.

Carol Fennelly / Hope House: "We believe that if a father is in prison, he doesn't stop being a dad. And in reverse, if a father is in prison, his children do not stop needing a dad."

EXPERTS SAY THESE KIDS ARE 50 PERCENT MORE LIKELY TO SERVE TIME THEMSELVES.

Carol Fennelly / Hope House: "They are either going to grow up as whole and productive people because we have enabled them to have relationships with the parents who are important to them and who encourage them, or we don't.”

Bill Barnes: “All of us understand what it’s like to be isolated. And anything that says ‘Believe in loving; believe in human relationships; believe that life is worthwhile.’ I think any of those reminders are important.”