Path B · Connect
Get matched
We match correspondents with people on death row who have asked to be written to, and we provide the training and resources to help those relationships take root and last.
The matching process
From email to first message
You email the Dean
Write to Dr. Wendy Ramage. Tell us your name, your state, roughly how often you can realistically write, and anything that matters about who you are.
We talk
A short conversation about what you are hoping for, what you can sustain, and what this practice actually asks. No qualifications required — just honesty.
We match
We connect you with someone on death row who has asked to be written to. We consider state, language, temperament, and how much support each of you needs.
We train you
Which messaging platform that facility uses, how to set up and fund the account, the first message, and what to expect from the first six months.
We stay
You are placed in a support group and you keep our email. When the messages stop, when a rule changes, when a date is set — you call us.
You can’t touch them unless you’re willing to be touched.
Other avenues
Four other ways to connect
The Institute is a home for a practice, not a gate in front of it. If another door gets you writing sooner, take it — and then come tell us so we can support you.
Write through a registry
National and state pen pal registries publish profiles of people on death row who have asked for correspondence. Read carefully, verify the name and DOC number against the facility's own site, and confirm which messaging platform that state uses.
Ask an abolition organization in the state
State-level abolition and prison ministry organizations often know exactly who hears from no one at all. They can point you to the people most in danger of disappearing.
Ask a spiritual adviser or attorney
People already inside the process — chaplains, spiritual advisers, capital defense teams — can pass along your offer to write.
Support someone else's correspondence
Not everyone should be matched right now. You can fund message credits, join a vigil, share the Institute, or hold a group member steady while they write.
Email us to begin
Dr. Wendy Ramage, Dean · Institute for Death Row Correspondence · a program of the Execution Intervention Project