Supported by Novo, Notorious New York Prison Is Reclaimed By The Women It Once Caged
In 2016, the NoVo Foundation, a not-for-profit group run by Warren Buffett’s son and daughter-in-law, announced it had won the rights to restore and redevelop the former prison.
The project, called “The Women’s Building,” will offer office space for organizations advocating for women and children, and will serve as a global hub for people working on those issues.
As part of the planning, NoVo has recruited former inmates, like Miller-Hill. She has returned to the prison on a half-dozen occasions for meetings, she said. The first time, she was overcome with feelings of frustration, anger and relief. “Prison is an environment built to degrade and dehumanize you,” she said. “A lot of women never came back, mentally I mean. We’re survivors, we beat the odds.” Pamela Shifman, executive director of NoVo, said it was important to include formerly incarcerated women as leaders in the process of transforming the prison into a space to support women...