Frederick Hutson had a plan.
While serving 51 months in prison on drug charges, Hutson saw firsthand the struggles that prisoners had staying in touch with family members. He knew the disproportionate costs prisoners were paying just to talk on the phone with loved ones. He also noticed that those who were unable to have regular contact with their families were returning to the prison at a higher rate. And he realized that what he was seeing in his prison was probably true in prisons across the country.
Using the entrepreneurial savvy that had once made him a successful drug dealer, Huston began formulating a business model for a company that would make it easier for prisoners to connect to their friends and family. The result is Pigeon.ly, an enterprise that allows prisoners to receive photos and inexpensive phone calls.
According to the Pigeon.ly website, the company “is solving a problem no one else has tackled before, in a market that no one generally wants to touch. We identify and index information on the nation’s incarcerated then transform it into useful and valuable information that connect inmates and society, benefiting both.” It does so through two products – Fotopigeon, which prints out photos and sends them to prisoners on behalf of their loved ones; and Telepigeon, which provides family and friends with phone numbers local to the prison where their prisoner is being held, helping to keep phone costs low.
In addition to these services, Pigeon.ly plans to release a separate database platform that will help those outside prison track the location of prisoners – a task that can be difficult as corrections systems often transfer men and women from prison to prison without notifying family members.
The venture has proven to be a profitable one – Pigeon.ly has grown by 20 percent since January 2014, and is on target to reach 1 million in sales by the end of the year.
In a story for CNN.com, Hutson credits his success to the fact that he is catering to an underserved market. “We are different, because we don’t look like the typical technology company,” he says. “[We have a] unique understanding of problems in this demographic that other people don’t understand. … That’s really our stone of strength.”
Prison Fellowship agrees that maintaining connections between prisoners, their spouses, children, and other loved ones is key to keeping these prisoners out of prison upon their release. Justice Fellowship, the policy and advocacy arm of the ministry, has supported and lobbied for policies that support and strengthen families, including measures to limit restrictions on visitation and reduce exorbitant phone fees. To find out more about what Justice Fellowship is doing to support families torn apart from incarceration, and how you can get involved, visit www.justicefellowship.org.