Our Story
Founded in 2001, Human Rights Coalition (HRC) is a Pennsylvania-based grassroots 501(c)(3) led by directly impacted people—incarcerated people, formerly incarcerated people, and their families. We organize so our loved ones are protected, treated with dignity, and brought home.
It began in a living room—June 4, 2001.
The Human Rights Coalition had its first meeting on June 4, 2001 at the house of the mother of one of the men who helped conceive the idea of HRC.
The meeting was small and a mix of prisoners’ family members and former prisoners. Many of those who attended, felt powerless in the face of the prison administration and its institutionalized discrimination, abuse, and torture. Yet the lives and well being of their loved ones were at stake – something they could not turn their backs to.
“There was powerful energy lying untapped—if properly focused, it could change the status quo.”
By the meeting’s end, a consensus emerged: a vast reservoir of untapped power lay within former prisoners and their families. If properly focused, this energy could dismantle the status quo of the prison system.
Consequently, HRC was established to support families navigating the hardships of incarceration, while challenging the system’s retributive nature in favor of a model rooted in rehabilitation and successful reintegration.
Families needed a way to fight back—together.
Want the full mission and vision? Read our Mission page.
How We Build Power
We tell the truth—The MOVEMENT magazine
HRC builds narrative power by amplifying directly impacted voices. The MOVEMENT elevates lived experience, movement analysis, and the stories the system tries to bury.
This is a family-led movement. Join us.
If your loved one is inside, if you’ve been inside, or if you believe human rights belong to everybody—there is a place for you here.