History, Mission and Core Values - Compassion Prison Project

How did CPP Begin?

Compassion Prison Project began as the brainchild of award-winning producer Fritzi Horstman, whose own childhood trauma helped shape its conception. Over the course of several months in 2019-2020, Fritzi and a dedicated team of facilitators and volunteers partnered with incarcerated men at a Kern Valley State Prison (KVSP), a maximum-security prison in Central California. Together, they created powerful tools to address and heal from childhood trauma.

During 2019, the men at KVSP and CPP, utilizing techniques such as mindfulness, meditation and the power of intention, explored childhood trauma and the impact it has had on their lives. Understanding the shame and dehumanization that results from both child abuse and incarceration, these men found ways to make amends to themselves, the people they’d harmed and their communities. They learned what it means to have deeper compassion for themselves and others, what it means to have a sense of belonging by recognizing our shared humanity. Through this process they began honoring and uplifting one another while joining together as a community.

In February of 2020, Fritzi and a film crew went to California State Prison – Los Angeles County in Lancaster, where 235 men participated in a powerful exercise that addressed childhood trauma. The immense importance of that day was captured in two short films, Step Inside the Circle and Honor Yard, which explore the significant correlation between ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and the lives of the men and women who are incarcerated. While our videos went viral with over 2.5 million views – the real story is how so many lives can be transformed by addressing childhood trauma through increased awareness and compassionate understanding.

In response, CPP has developed several projects which support our goal of creating trauma-informed prisons throughout the U.S. and internationally. This means trauma-informed awareness for both those behind bars and those working within the prison system. CPP’s ultimate mission is to transform prisons into healing and education centers so that the most traumatized people in our society can be supported and cared for.

As the recognition of Compassion Prison Project has grown, volunteers from across the world have come forth to help spread awareness about ACEs and childhood trauma. CPP Volunteers (Compassion Ambassadors) include currently and formerly incarcerated men and women, family members, therapists and psychologists, artists, writers, college students, community activists and more.