Cornerstone Builders’ Bus Project provides a free monthly bus service for New Orleanians who have loved ones in four Louisiana detention facilities:
- Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola)
- Dixon Correctional Institute
- Raymond Laborde Correctional Center (formerly Avoyelles)
- Rayburn Correctional Center
Cornerstone also coordinates a handful of bus rides from Shreveport to Angola each year.
At least once a month, the Bus Project rents a 55 passenger bus and makes the trek to different facilities from New Orleans, at an average cost of $1,200 per trip. The Shreveport Bus service costs, on average, $2,000 per trip. There are two important objectives for the bus trips:
- to provide free trips for those who cannot afford it, especially families with small children
- to provide passengers with a stress-free and comfortable trip by hiring coach buses equipped with restrooms.
The rides often take more than two hours one-way. The travel itself should be as stress-free and comfortable as possible for the family members.
To contact Cornerstone Builders about reserving a ride, please call 504.324.4432Â during business hours. Click here for the 2024 Cornerstone Bus Schedule from New Orleans. Click here for the 2024 Cornerstone Bus Schedule from Shreveport.
Read more about Cornerstone in the WWNO article Cornerstone Bus Project Keeps Families Connected To Angola Inmates by Nina Feldman, and in the Antigravity Magazine article Prison Road: The Far-Flung Effects of Incarceration in Louisiana by Andru Okun.