Of course, being in prison is no fun. Lots of inmates suffer from depression due to isolation. To make them feel less lonely while they are serving time, just consider discovering prisoner pen pals and then sending them letters. You are able to browse through lots of websites dedicated to helping inmates discover pen pals for friendly conversations or even romance.
What to Do Before Sending a Letter to Inmates?
You are able to write letters to inmates as often as possible so that they have something to look forward to. However, you have to be careful about the information you share. Several inmates can be dangerous, thus sharing too many details about your personal life may be risky. You have to avoid giving them your real address, particularly at the beginning of your correspondence. You are able to rent a P.O. box to receive mail from prison. You do not have to worry about potential stalkers after your inmate pen pals get out of the prison. Before composing a letter, you have to know who is available for correspondence.
Finding Inmate Pen Pals Fast and Easy
You have many options to select from when it comes to sites dedicated to discovering male and female prison pen pals. Most of these sites are free. And they feature names of inmates all across the United States along with their pictures and addresses. You are able to select filters about inmates’ gender, age, and race.
The most popular sites for discovering inmate pen pals are:
- PrisonPenPals
- Inmate Classified
- Friends Beyond the Wall
- WriteAPrisoner
Spending ages selecting the right envelope, ensuring to follow the rules, and going to the post office to mail a letter to your pen pal will be overwhelming. Imagine investing all the time and effort only to find a few weeks later that your letter was rejected because of a small mistake you did not notice.
DoNotPay’s tool can avoid the trouble and unnecessary stress, and send a letter on your behalf so that you do not have to worry about following all the rules or addressing the letter correctly. They are going to print your letter and send it to the facility where your prisoner pen pal serves time. You will need to give a few details and compose your message, and they are going to do everything else.
Here is what you should do:
- At the first step, you have to log in to your account from a web browser
- After that, click on Connect With an Inmate and select their Send a Personalized Letter feature
- Now, you are able to enter the inmate’s name, username, and ID.
- Please compose your letter through their app or upload a file with the already written message.
- In this step, you are able to upload photos.
- The last step, you only need to choose one of their letter templates.
For those who are not sure which facility your incarcerated loved one is held in, or if your prisoner pen pal has been transferred and you do not know the new address, DoNotPay’s tool will help you out. Please choose the Locate Someone option, then type in the inmate’s name and state. Next, DoNotPay will give the latest known address as quickly as possible.
The third feature of the tool allows you to receive letters from the inmates via your virtual mailbox. This feature is very helpful if you want to avoid writing your address on the envelope. The inmate’s letter is going to be sent to an address provided by DoNotPay. They are going to scan it right away and send it to your virtual mailbox.
Before being able to do that, you have to make your mailbox by following these steps below:
- At the first step, you have to sign in to your account from a web browser.
- After that, you are able to click on Connect With an Inmate.
- Now, you are able to choose Virtual Mailbox.
- The, you need to click on Create My Mailbox
- Afterwards, you are able to log in to their app and click on Request Mail Check anytime you want to see if you have received any mail.
Anyone who has the address of the facility and right info about an inmate; name, username, and ID, or booking number, will be able to send letters. Besides visiting inmates, sending letters is also one of the best choices to stay in touch with them.
What Can I Send to Prison Pen Pal?
Before you send a letter to your prisoner pen pal, you have to be familiar with the rules to ensure your letter is accepted. The envelope should be without glitter or other decoration. It should just contain the address of the facility and your P.O. box, and both addresses must be written correctly. Remember that prisons have strict regulations when it comes to items they are able to accept.
Here is a list of some of the items you can send:
- Up to 5 photos (4×6 inches).
- Up to three new books with soft covers ordered from Amazon and shipped by the USPS.
- Newspapers and Magazines without sexual content.
- Holiday and birthday cards without glitter, electronics, or other decoration.
How Often Do Inmates Receive Mail?
You are able to send letters to inmates via the USPS. While the letters arrive quickly, your inmate pen pal will not receive mail right away. Every item which inmates receive undergoes detailed inspection by the prison staff to make sure there are no forbidden items. The entire process might last a few weeks, so you have to be patient when writing to an inmate because you need to wait longer to receive a response.
Should I Call My Inmate Pen Pal?
Only outgoing calls are allowed in prison. It means that you cannot call your incarcerated pen pal. You are able to provide them with your phone number, register it online, and ask them to call you if you prefer communicating over the phone. Just give your phone number if you are sure that the inmate is not dangerous. Also, the same advice applies to visitation. The inmates love when someone visits them, but you should not feel obligated to do it, particularly if you do not trust them enough.
