TULSA, Okla. — Isabel Coronado has a clear passion for helping children navigate one of life's most challenging circumstances.
In Oklahoma, between 25,000 and 30,000 children have an incarcerated parent, according to Coronado, an advocate for kids of incarcerated parents.
WATCH: Fundraiser aiming to create family-friendly courtyard at David L. Moss jail
At the David L. Moss Facility, parents can earn contact visits with their children. However, the courtyard where those visits happen needs a makeover.
"Children coming into these facilities now, it's very scary. They're kind of designed to be scary. We don't want people to want to go to jail of course. But that's not to the fault of them," Coronado said.
Coronado and NYU Tulsa are hoping to raise $40,000 through the Tulsa Community Foundation to give the courtyard upgrades.
The improvements include better furniture, toys for kids of all ages, activities for children with special needs and even improvements to landscaping. All are designed to create a more inclusive and comfortable space for families.
"We want to make and transform this space into more of a healing place for parents and children to connect and have conversations," Coronado said.
"Just a creative play area. We're going to have chalk. We want the young people to color on the windows, just to make the facility more human like," she said.
Coronado hopes the courtyard will spur conversation to help children with parents in jail in other ways.
"They come for these 60 minute visits, but then they go home," Coronado said.
"Children just miss their parents. That's just the fact of the matter that they're going to miss their parent. So I really want more community members to understand the impact of parental incarceration," she said.
County officials say they support the plan. If you'd like to help, there's multiple ways to do so.
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