Donation to Prison Scholar Fund (PSF)

In 2022, Art4Giving donated to Prison Scholar Fund. PSF is a non-profit that provides incarcerated people the tools they need to become successful members of their communities by funding college, vocational, and technical courses. PSF also provides transition and employment assistance after release.

“When you educate a person, they develop skills, they think differently, and they get out and get a job. They contribute back to society. They don’t commit crimes. They support their family, their loved ones.” – Dirk Van Velzen, Founder and CEO, Prison Scholar Fund

Dirk Van Velzen, the founder of PSF, was released from prison in 2015. While incarcerated, he earned two business degrees through distance education and graduated in the upper 1% of his class at Penn State. Hoping to set other incarcerated people on the same path, Dirk founded the Prison Scholar Fund, and from prison, raised enough funds to support 110 incarcerated students. Through distance education, Prison Scholars have obtained academic certificates, associate’s as well as bachelor’s degrees. Of the 84 Prison Scholars who have been released so far, only three have been re-arrested, giving the PSF a recidivism rate of 4% (compared to a national recidivism rate of 68%).

“One of the few ways people can better themselves in prison is through learning. So I am proud to support Prison Scholar Fund through Art4Giving. They do great work.” – Ross Ulbricht

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