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In 2023, MWF members backed Prison Network’s Recovery Program for women leaving prison who had experienced family violence. Today, that work continues as the organisation prepares for its next chapter as Hope Network.

One woman described joining Prison Network’s Recovery Program just days after leaving prison.

“I was released on the Tuesday and attended my first recovery support meeting on the following Monday,” she wrote.

It is a simple sentence, but it says a great deal about the kind of support women need after release.

Not months later, once housing, family, employment, safety and wellbeing are all settled. Not when everything is neat. In those first uncertain days, when the pressure to return to old patterns can be strong, she found a group of women who understood.

The same participant described what grew from that connection:

“We are like family.”

What MWF members chose to back

When Prison Network came through Melbourne Women’s Foundation’s grants process in 2023, the proposal was practical, clear and deeply relational.

They wanted to strengthen recovery pathways for women leaving prison who had also experienced family violence.

For many women, leaving prison does not mean safety and stability are suddenly secure. Housing may be uncertain. Family relationships may be strained. Employment or study can feel out of reach. Trauma, stigma, substance use and unsafe relationships may all sit close to the surface.

Prison Network understood that support after release needed to be more than a referral or short program. Women needed relationships that could hold over time. They needed practical tools, safe connection, and a network of peers who understood the work of rebuilding.

In November 2023, MWF members awarded Prison Network our $80,000 Signature Grant.

The grant supported the Recovery Program to build protective factors for women after release: peer connection, tailored workshops, social outings, retreats and long-term individual support.

What the grant helped make possible

The Recovery Program created a steady rhythm of support.

Women met regularly online. They took part in workshops on topics such as boundaries, money, positive friendships, loss, shame and identity. They planned social outings together, including mosaic making, karaoke, art therapy and bowling. They also helped shape retreats and activities that gave newer participants a stronger sense of connection.

Between sessions, a group chat became a daily source of encouragement, accountability and care.

This mattered in very practical ways.

If someone was having a difficult day, others checked in. If someone was considering returning to an unsafe relationship, others gently challenged that decision. If someone was tempted to return to substance use, the group became a place of encouragement and accountability.

Women were not only receiving support. They were helping shape it. They were taking turns to lead discussions, plan activities and create a community that made safer choices feel more possible.

One participant put it this way:

“The support to one another is phenomenal. We have days when someone is down, and everyone gathers round and picks that person up.”

The outcomes have been strong.

Among women engaged in the group, 96% had not returned to prison. None had gone back to a violent relationship. 85% had secured housing, and 70% had secured employment or study.

These numbers matter. But so do the quieter changes behind them.

The confidence to ask for help. The ability to recognise an unsafe relationship. The chance to build friendships without substance use. The experience of being trusted to lead. The feeling of having somewhere to turn on a hard day.

This is the kind of practical, patient work MWF members help make possible.

As a giving circle, MWF does not deliver frontline services ourselves. Our role is to strengthen the organisations that do, so more women and their families can move from crisis, to stability, to thriving.

A grant can give a strong organisation the room to test, learn, deepen evidence and keep building. In this case, it helped Prison Network strengthen a model of support that is now part of its ongoing work.

The next chapter: Hope Network

Prison Network is now preparing for another important step.

From July 2026, the organisation will begin operating as Hope Network.

The new name came through careful consultation with women, families, staff, volunteers and supporters. Women shared that while the name Prison Network carries deep history and trust, the word “prison” can also carry stigma as they rebuild their lives in the community.

It can make it harder to feel confident accessing services. It can create challenges when seeking housing, looking for work or accessing support for children. It can define women by where they have been, rather than where they are going.

One story has stayed with the organisation. At a prison visit, a grandmother arriving with her granddaughter heard the words “Prison Network” and gently covered the child’s ears.

“We don’t use that word,” she said. “We’re trying to break the cycle.”

The organisation listened.

Hope Network is not a change in purpose. The work inside Victorian prisons remains strong, and the name Prison Network will continue to be used for in-prison programs so women can find a name they know and trust.

The new name reflects the full arc of the organisation’s work: before, during and after incarceration. It reflects support that continues in homes, families, workplaces and community. It reflects a future where women are not defined by their past, but supported in what comes next.

Hope in practice: New Leash Dog Salon

That future is already taking shape at New Leash Dog Salon in Canterbury.

New Leash is a social enterprise created by Prison Network to provide paid work, training, mentoring and employment pathways for women with lived experience of the justice system.

It is also a local community story.

A customer books a dog groom. A woman gains hands-on training and paid work. A small business becomes a place where routine, skill and confidence can grow. The local community has a simple, everyday way to stand alongside women rebuilding their lives.

This is what hope can look like in practice.

Not a slogan. A pathway. A job. A dog wash. A conversation. A chance to be known for what comes next.

Why renewal matters

As MWF members, we are part of this story.

Our membership helped Prison Network strengthen a recovery program that supports women to build safety, connection, confidence and stability after release.

Renewing your membership keeps the circle strong.

It helps MWF continue to back thoughtful, practical and often gutsy work for women and their families across Greater Melbourne. It helps us pool our giving, learn together, make careful grant decisions, and support organisations walking alongside women through complex, long-term change.

If your membership is due, we would be grateful to have you renew your place in the circle.

You can also continue supporting Hope Network directly. Make a donation, or if you are local, book your dog in for a pamper session at New Leash Dog Salon.