PJI Enhances Family Connections Through Family First Program

“Everything can be taken away from you, except your power to choose how you respond,” says Colie “Shaka” Long, founder of the Family First Mentorship Program. As Program Associate at Georgetown’s Prisons and Justice Initiative (PJI), Long is committed to empowering families to break cycles of incarceration and create lasting memories together. His guiding belief? “You’re never going to be powerless.”

Recognizing the need for prevention alongside reentry programs, Long designed the Family First Program to inspire youth and their families before they became justice-involved. “You don’t have to be justice-impacted to be inspired,” Long explained.

Long’s vision for Family First grew out of his own experiences. With a formerly incarcerated grandfather and no stable father figure, Long saw prison as a “‘rite of passage’ for Black boys in my community, like a ‘badge of honor,’” he explained. Determined to break that cycle, he designed Family First as a mentorship program that connects parents and children through shared experiences.

“Working with children is easier, but it’s just as easy to forget you can’t really focus on the kid at the expense of excluding the kid’s parents.” Long said. “Parents play a huge factor in what kind of character the kids will have.”

The program launched with events like a back-to-school giveaway and financial literacy seminar for both children and adults, followed by a brunch cruise that introduced many children to their first time on a boat. “One of the participants even told me, ‘Wow, I really appreciate you including us. I really needed this. My kid’s been talking about it all day,’” Long shared.

Since then, the Family First Program has hosted trips to LEGO Discovery Land and Six Flags America. To close the year, PJI staff transformed the office into a magical winter candyland, complete with gifts for each child.

In the coming year, Long plans to organize Georgetown campus tours for local families, inviting undergraduate students to share their experiences as Black and Brown scholars. “I want these kids, born and raised in D.C., to realize the opportunity to get a degree is right in my backyard,” Long said.

At the heart of Family First is a simple yet powerful idea: family is the foundation of stronger communities. “Family stability creates community safety, and community builds a nation,” Long said.