LOS ANGELES, June 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Unlikely Collaborators has awarded a Spark grant to fund an innovative collaboration between Crim Fitness Foundation and Prison Yoga Project to support From Inside Out: Transforming Justice Through Mindfulness, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at sparking systemic change within the Genesee County justice system. Phase One of this project will strengthen the existing partnership between the Crim and the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, enhancing the weekly mindfulness programming offered to incarcerated individuals through I.G.N.I.T.E.® (Inmate Growth Naturally and Intentionally Through Education).

This first phase includes a new collaboration with the Prison Yoga Project to train the Crim team in evidence-based, trauma-informed mindfulness practices tailored to the needs of incarcerated populations, as well as providing the Prison Yoga Project's Mindfulness Immersion Curriculum to the Crim's existing program. By equipping participants with tools for emotional regulation, stress reduction, and self-awareness, the initiative seeks to shift perceptions and promote healing from within the jail environment. The first phase will run throughout 2025 and lay the foundation for future phases that will expand mindfulness programming to include re-entry workers and correctional officers. The goal is to build a more compassionate and conscious justice system from the inside out. It is important to note that this project is not a research study and that incarcerated individuals are in no way being used as research subjects. Rather, participation is voluntary and focused solely on supporting personal growth and emotional well-being.

Unlikely Collaborators' sister organizations, Tiny Blue Dot and Unlikely Collaborators Foundation, have previously supported both the Crim and Prison Yoga Project. The Spark grants, launched in 2024, support bold, collaborative projects that integrate the Perception Box^TM lens to reimagine narratives and create meaningful change. Each grant prioritizes 501(c)(3) partnerships between organizations and individuals who have not worked together before, fostering innovation and unexpected synergy.

Unlikely Collaborators is a nonprofit organization, founded and chaired by Elizabeth R. Koch, dedicated to fostering transformative storytelling, developing human connection, and resolving internal conflict. UC's perspective is that external conflict is the direct result of unconscious, unresolved internal conflict inside each and every one of us. Founded on the belief that the way we perceive the world is highly subjective, Unlikely Collaborators supports projects that challenge assumptions, spark meaningful dialogue, and invite humans into deeper self-awareness – in community.

Central to this mission is the groundbreaking Perception Box framework developed by Koch. More than just a metaphor, it represents the often unseen matrix of biases, beliefs, and personal narratives that influence how we interpret reality. Rooted in cognitive science and psychological research, this framework illustrates how each person's unique mental model shapes their understanding of the world—often limiting their ability to connect with new perspectives and ideas. By investigating and untangling our Perception Box beliefs, individuals and communities can unlock compassion, creativity, and new ways of thinking.

"This support from Unlikely Collaborators allows us to deepen our commitment to the well-being and growth of individuals impacted by the justice system," said Ka'Sella Matière, Mindfulness Coordinator at the Crim. "By integrating the Perception Box framework with our trauma-informed mindfulness practices, we're not just teaching tools for stress reduction — we're inviting people to shift how they see themselves and their potential. That's the first step toward real transformation."

"We're honored to partner with the Crim and bring our experience into such a visionary initiative," said Nicole Hellthaler, Executive Director of Prison Yoga Project. "Our work is rooted in the understanding that healing begins with self-awareness. This project offers a meaningful opportunity for incarcerated individuals to access that healing, through embodied movement practices, while also challenging the systems and perceptions that often stand in the way of compassion and change."

"The only way to change the prison system is to address the Perception Box limitations of everyone in the system," said Koch. "And that's exactly what this spark between the Crim Fitness Foundation and Prison Yoga Project aims to do - turn the focus away from the punishment model and toward one of healing, so everyone from inmates to correction officers to re-entry workers can come alive into their full potential."

The Crim is a participant in the Tiny Blue Dot Foundation's neuroscientific research projects related to "The Science of Perception Box," having been awarded funding of a study being conducted with Brown University and Mindful Badge. Titled  Courageous Connection: Changing Perceptions and Reducing Bias by Building Mindful Awareness and Compassionate Relationships among Police and Black Community Members, the project aims to address the broken trust and violent encounters between police officers and Black community members in the United States, by developing mindfulness-based interventions for both police officers and Black community members.

Unlikely Collaborators Foundation awarded Prison Yoga Project a grant to support Prison Yoga Project initiatives through 2026, including a wellness program for correctional staff and others working across the justice system - such as judges, officers, and treatment professionals - who are impacted by secondary trauma, and the development of a youth graphic novel designed to bring accessible, trauma-sensitive yoga practices into juvenile detention settings and diversion programs.

For more information on the Crim, please visit https://crim.org/; for more information on Prison Yoga Project, please visit https://www.prisonyoga.org/; and for more information about Unlikely Collaborators, please visit https://www.unlikelycollaborators.com/.

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SOURCE Unlikely Collaborators