Riley DLI reading program ‘A Mother’s Voice’ gets support from DSS

A program developed by a Midlands cohort of Diversity Leaders Initiative is in the news on the eve of Mother’s Day. Fellows of DLI, a program of The Riley Institute at Furman University, craft capstone projects to address needs in their communities. In 2016, a group of DLI fellows led by South Carolina Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling created a program in which incarcerated women could record their voices in specialized storybooks for their children or grandchildren. “A Mother’s Voice” was expanded to include fathers in prison and is now known as “Riley’s Readers” in honor of Furman alumnus Richard Riley, former South Carolina governor and U.S. secretary of education. Learn more about Riley’s Readers and how the South Carolina Department of Social Services is supporting the program in The Post and Courier and on WACH FOX 57.