When a person enters prison, besides locking up a life, it also changes the livelihood of many families. In Colombia, there is an organization that knows this all too well, and that is why the Confraternidad Carcelaria de Colombia created the Revolving Fund, a program that puts its hopes in those waiting outside – mothers, wives, sisters – to provide them with some tools of economic reconstruction, dignity and autonomy. There is talk of resilience, dignity and contribution to the social fabric.
The Revolving Fund is a non-profit social program, attached to the Confraternidad Carcelaria de Colombia, which grants microcredits to women heads of household in prison or in a situation of vulnerability.
Those eligible to participate include: the wife, mother, grandmother or sister of someone deprived of liberty; displaced women; victims of the armed conflict; or mothers who have a concrete business project based on their skills in arts or crafts.
It currently has a presence in several cities in the country. Up to 2025, it has granted 789 microcredits, directly benefiting approximately 2,796 people who have improved their quality of life. In addition, approximately 180 people have been certified by SENA, and 253 women have completed the diploma course for the administration and management of resources.
Not only are participants given money, but the organization follows up on each of the enterprises; home visits are made to verify how the loan is invested, and each microentrepreneur is provided with the best possible advice. This program also offers comprehensive training: self-esteem, life project, arts and crafts workshops, frustration tolerance, pressure management, and other tools that are essential for entrepreneurship, such as participation in entrepreneurship fairs, special events, and awards by level (gold, silver, platinum) based on compliance, perseverance, and job creation.
Social impact: beyond credit
The Revolving Fund has had a significant impact on financial inclusion and economic empowerment, but also on self-esteem, support networks and social welfare for women who faced stigma, precariousness or social abandonment.
This type of program helps to rebuild the invisible: dreams, dignity, pride in being able to support a family through their own efforts. But on the other side of the coin, it also transforms the way of thinking of the inmates, who, upon returning home, support these enterprises, making them see a light of hope in a place where they thought everything was lost.
However, there are some challenges, such as making the program widely available in more regions and continuing to improve follow-up to prevent businesses from going bankrupt due to lack of ongoing training or logistical support. In these scenarios, volunteering plays a key role. The first is to ensure that funding is sustainable so that the program has sufficient resources to grant more loans without relying solely on donors, and that loan recovery rates are fair. In addition, to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem with connections, alliances with institutions, value chains, so that these microenterprises also grow, not just survive.
The Revolving Fund of the Prison Fellowship is a program that bets on the reconstruction of society from second chances, where families try to sustain and reunite what prison separates. In the midst of so much silence and exclusion, this fund becomes a bridge, a way of showing that it is possible to get ahead even when society has lost faith in you and when it seems that all hope has vanished.
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