Magic Yarn Project

Tender Mercies is happy to be working with The Magic Yarn Project, founded by our good friend, Holly Christensen.

Hiland’s very active Crochet Club started by making beanies (providing a foundation for the “hair”) for a workshop held Saturday, October 24, 2015, in Wasilla. That workshop was featured in the Frontiersman.

Hiland’s Crochet Club continued their efforts, making even more beanies for a workshop on November 7, also at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That workshop was featured in the Sunday, November 8, 2015, Anchorage Dispatch News.

The yarn needed for the beanies is special, very soft yarn. Yarn that is too coarse irritates the girl’s heads. The Magic Yarn Project buys this yarn with donated money.

Yarn Drive

Hiland Mountain Correctional Center has an on-going need for yarn (independent of The Magic Yarn Project) to crochet items for their Give Back program. For the 2015 Give Back program, Hiland has adopted a native village. Funds will go toward purchasing items for that village, such as for enough quilt batting to make blankets for villagers.

 

Our Mission

Tender Mercies™ is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to bringing bright spots of hope, light, and encouragement into the lives of inmates of Alaska state prisons, especially by supporting desirable programs that require good behavior, so as to encourage more inmates to behave well. We believe these efforts help inmates improve their character while the inmates’s products enrich the community.

We are initially concentrating our efforts on helping inmates of Hiland Mountain Correctional Center, Alaska's only prison solely for women.

But why should anyone help inmates?
World spiritual leaders say ...

  • “Thou shalt love ... thy neighbor as thyself.” ~ Jesus Christ
  • “None of you have faith until you love for your neighbor what you love for yourself.” ~ Muhammed
  • “Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.” ~ Confucius
  • “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” ~ Buddha
  • “The sage has no interest of his own, but takes the interests of the people as his own.
    He is kind to the kind; he is also kind to the unkind: for Virtue is kind.” ~ Tao

We have helped these women as follows.

  • Coordinated with The Magic Yarn Project.
  • Arranged several pen pals.
  • Donated “flowers” to many of them. (i.e., photos of flowers)
  • Donated sufficient quilt batting to make hundreds of quilts.
  • Donated many dozens of skeins of yarn.
  • Facilitated donation of basic hygiene supplies for women in the Mental Health Unit.
  • Encouraged Denali Law Group to donate books for the book club.
  • Donated books for the yoga class.

We hope to help these women the following ways.

  • Arrange more pen pals.
  • Donate beauty equipment and supplies for the two inmate-run salons.
  • Donate toys for use in the main visiting area.
  • Donate toys for use in the House 5 visiting area.
  • Give each inmate uplifting photos for certain days such as Easter or May Day.
  • Donate more craft supplies for Hobby/Craft.
  • Donate more basic hygiene supplies for the women in the Mental Health Unit.
  • Coordinate with other charitable organizations helping Hiland, such as the following.
  • Whatever Superintendent Gilligan wants.

We would appreciate any help you could offer. Please see our wish list for ways you could help.

(Page updated 2015-11-19)