The Radio Show That Reunited Inmates and Families [TheMarshallProject.org]

Soon she would board a 15-passenger van for a seven-hour drive to a small town near the Kentucky border. Her ultimate destination was a supermax state prison called Red Onion. It holds 800 inmates, one of whom was her son, Michael.

She had not seen him in 15 years.

Their prolonged separation is a familiar story to the thousands of family members around the country who live long distances from incarcerated relatives. Many are poor and unable to take time off from work, find child care or pay for transportation and overnight lodging. But on this night, Gardner and 11 other passengers, 10 women and one man, were on their way to Red Onion and another supermax called Wallens Ridge. The trip, free of charge, was made possible by local philanthropy but also, in a way, by the power of a radio program — “Calls From Home”— that airs once a week on a tiny Kentucky radio station, WMMT. A freelance producer there named Sylvia Ryerson, who had helped arrange the trip, was behind the wheel.

Ms. Ryerson joined the station in 2010, almost a decade after it began broadcasting “Calls From Home,” which offers prisoners’ relatives the chance to call in and record greetings that are then played from 9 to 10 p.m. on Mondays. Inmates can listen on Mp3 players that are sold at the prison commissary.