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Show HN: Ameelio.org – Free Prison Communication Platform

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Re: Show HN: Ameelio.org – Free Prison Communication Platform

#31

Post by dang »

twomoretime wrote: post #15
flyGuyOnTheSly wrote: post #9

Just a tip upon first glance... You might want to make the homepage a bit more politically correct by changing up the first (and only?) two incarcerated ethnicities from being Black and Hispanic. I am aware they make up the majority of the American prison population, but they really shouldn't. Seems like a worthwhile project though. Good luck!

>I am aware they make up the majority of the American prison population, but they really shouldn't Why? You think the entire disparity is explained by "socioeconomics" and/or "institutional racism"? More importantly, we're supposed to have "accurate" representation for positive traits, but only white men should be represented under negative circumstances? Am I understanding this PC stuff correctly?

Please don't take HN threads further into flamewar, even if another comment contains something provocative. It's tedious, and against the site rules because we're here for intellectual curiosity.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Show HN: Ameelio.org – Free Prison Communication Platform

#32

Post by toomuchtodo »

This project makes my heart so full. Thanks for your team‘s hard work, meaningful and necessary work.

Y’all need to apply for YC’s non profit program (edit: I see you’re already in Mozilla’s accelerator, equally good!). I hope you can scale up to audio and videoconferencing with more resources and backing (donated compute, open source tooling like Jitsi Meet or similar) and chip away at the for profits in the space taking advantage of the families and loved ones of the incarcerated.

Re: Show HN: Ameelio.org – Free Prison Communication Platform

#33

Post by [deleted] »

jessehorne wrote: post #18
iamthepieman wrote: post #17

Do you need volunteer developers or other types of professionals?

We could use all the help we can get. If you'd like, just reach out to our email with what you're interested in helping with or any skills you may have. I'm sure we can figure out something and I'm thankful you're interested in helping us! team@ameelio.org

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: Ameelio.org – Free Prison Communication Platform

#34

Post by Zoorchingwa »

Kronopath wrote: post #26
gabesaruhashi wrote: post #4

My name is Gabe and I am one of the co-founders of Ameelio. Though we only launched 4 weeks ago, we have over 1,250 users that collectively sent >3,000 letters across the entire country. While it’s free for us to videoconference on Zoom and Facetime during quarantine, it can cost up to $25 to make a 15-minute phone call to an incarcerated person. Some of you might be thinking: “Is it just a letter mailing service?” T…

How does your company handle the costs of mailing or delivering the letters?

My name is Zo, I'm one of the co-founders of Ameelio. We are completely self-funded at the moment, so we need all the help we can get! We were recently accepted into one of Mozilla's accelerators, so this will provide us some additional funding. As a 501c3 we're eligible to receive grants and donations, so we're furiously applying to grants and reaching out to foundations. 34% of families with a loved one in prison fall into debt trying to pay for phone calls and visits alone (https://bit.ly/2YrmyPV), so we're committed to keeping our services 100% free.

Re: Show HN: Ameelio.org – Free Prison Communication Platform

#35

Post by Zoorchingwa »

zachiemills wrote: post #7

This is truly an amazing cause! Incarcerated people and their families deserve better, and Ameelio's organization and outreach is going to provide an incredible impact. I cannot wait to watch this organization grow!

Thanks so much! Really appreciate it.

Re: Show HN: Ameelio.org – Free Prison Communication Platform

#36

Post by estreeper »

joshmn wrote: post #8

I just want to say good luck. There's so much that can be done that isn't. Part of that is the system. Part of that is Securus. Part of that is lobbying. Part of that is just plain lack of innovation. There's room here to innovate. I had a product that effectively allowed inmates to have a Soundcloud from the prison phone. It pissed off a few people.

Could you elaborate on what your experience was and the pushback you received? It would also be interesting to hear a bit more about what you built!

Re: Show HN: Ameelio.org – Free Prison Communication Platform

#37

Post by bdcravens »

tyingq wrote: post #29
grahamburger wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question, because I have no idea how this all works: if people can just send letters for the cost of a stamp then why do they use Global Tel Link or Securus? Really great thing you're doing here, I hope it all works out.

They use jPay and similar because it's faster. Typically in the incarcerated person's hand in a day or two. USPS takes longer, then the prison contraband checking process, etc.

I believe jPay letters are printed out at the facilities and then distributed

Re: Show HN: Ameelio.org – Free Prison Communication Platform

#38

Post by bdcravens »

estreeper wrote: post #36
joshmn wrote: post #8

I just want to say good luck. There's so much that can be done that isn't. Part of that is the system. Part of that is Securus. Part of that is lobbying. Part of that is just plain lack of innovation. There's room here to innovate. I had a product that effectively allowed inmates to have a Soundcloud from the prison phone. It pissed off a few people.

Could you elaborate on what your experience was and the pushback you received? It would also be interesting to hear a bit more about what you built!

Many states ban any kind of social media access by inmates, even through a third party

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2017/may/5/texas-prison...

Obviously there's some nuance as to whether Soundcloud is social media, but the bigger point is that prisons want to control inmates' ability to communicate

Re: Show HN: Ameelio.org – Free Prison Communication Platform

#39

Post by gavinray »

grahamburger wrote: post #25
jessehorne wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First I'd like to thank you for the comment. You made me realize a mistake I made in mentioning JPay and Securus when I meant to say Global Tel Link and Securus. As far as pushback from other companies, we haven't received any so far. There's nothing they can really do besides make their services more appealing. Currently, with Letters (our first app), it allows users to sign up, add their contacts (inmates), and the…

Honest question, because I have no idea how this all works: if people can just send letters for the cost of a stamp then why do they use Global Tel Link or Securus? Really great thing you're doing here, I hope it all works out.

If you think the letter prices are bad, try:

- $3.15/15 mins for a domestic phone call

- $15/20 mins video call/teleconference if your jail/prison has them and you/someone else are willing to fork out that much (You may be there a while and so have to stretch whatever money you have left as far as possible)

- I don't even want to know how much for an international call

- $1 for a single pack of ramen

- $5 for a 5oz bag of freeze-dried coffee

And even if you have the money, you'd better hope someone picks up when you get your phonecall and/or that you know people's addresses or phone-numbers offhand.

US Justice system is a nightmare.

Gotta love JPay, Bob Barker, and Aramark.

Re: Show HN: Ameelio.org – Free Prison Communication Platform

#40

Post by tyingq »

bdcravens wrote: post #37
tyingq wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They use jPay and similar because it's faster. Typically in the incarcerated person's hand in a day or two. USPS takes longer, then the prison contraband checking process, etc.

I believe jPay letters are printed out at the facilities and then distributed

Yes, that's correct.
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