KUDOS FOR shining a light on the challenges faced by many people leaving the prison system at the end of a sentence ("Ex-offenders face big obstacles," Feb. 13).

It is significant that the story focused on a female ex-offender, as it is a little-known reality that women are the fastest-growing population in our prison system today. According to the Justice Department, the average annual increase of female prisoners outpaced that of men 4.6 percent to 3.0 from 1995 to 2005.

Each spring, Women's Way convenes a group to hear firsthand about the most urgent and underfunded needs facing women and their families in our region. The growing needs of incarcerated women rose to the top of the list this year.

Whatever your views on the merits of mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenses, the result of these policies is a rapidly growing population of women behind bars. This presents challenges for these women, of course, but also for the children that they leave behind, the children that they bear behind bars, and the caregivers in their extended families who are left to pick up the pieces.

Recognizing this, we're supporting several programs to help women successfully move from prison to fulfilling, healthy lives. For example, New Directions for Women provides an alternative living environment to women in the Philadelphia County prison system nearing the end of their sentences. Interim House offers in- and out-patient care for addicted women, with 87 percent referred directly by the criminal justice system. We are also supporting the Maternity Care Coalition's program for female inmates providing education, counseling and other resources. These initiatives help reintegrate these women into their families and their communities.

We encourage other funders and philanthropists to support such programs, and we wish hope, happiness and a new beginning for the women and families served by them.

Melissa Weiler Gerber

Executive Director, Women's Way