The Light Within the Walls | An Evening Panel with C.P. Handler, LCSW
About this Event
🎟 This event is FREE and open to the public, and books will be available for purchase the night of the event! An RSVP grants general entry, but seating is not guaranteed, so please try to show up early. Please RSVP only if you intend to join us. Can't make the event? Buy your copy here.
About The Book
We label them criminals. This book asks us to look again.
In The Light Within the Walls, social worker C.P. Handler takes readers inside juvenile detention, where boys carrying histories of trauma, abandonment, violence, and loss are often reduced to the worst thing they have ever done.
What she finds is not the story she expected.
As she builds trust with youth navigating a system that promises rehabilitation while often operating through punishment, control, and fear, their stories begin to emerge—stories of resilience, loyalty, heartbreak, and hope.
The Light Within the Walls is a powerful memoir about the humanity hidden behind the labels and the profound difference one trusted adult can make.
About The Author
C.P. Handler, LCSW is a trauma‑informed, humanistic therapist and author of The Light Within the Walls. C.P. spent six years providing therapy inside state and country juvenile correctional systems, working with traumatized, often gang‑involved youth in one of the most violent and dysfunctional environments in the country. C.P. is the founder of Ocean Counseling and offers therapy across Florida, Michigan, and Ohio, specializing in EMDR, Brainspotting, juvenile justice, and work with parents and teens. CP offers trainings internationally, as well. Her book explores the lived experiences of incarcerated youth, the systemic failures that harm them, the obstacles to providing healing in systems built for control, and the long‑term relationships she continues to maintain with the young men she served.
About The Panelists
Michael “Rondo” Bonilla is a Gen Z Organizer at REFORM Alliance and co-chair of the Future Shapers Advisory Council. He is recognized nationally for his leadership, emotional intelligence, and ability to connect with young people through authenticity and lived experience. Rondo’s work focuses on youth-driven justice reform, community empowerment, and building systems that honor the humanity of system‑impacted youth. His voice brings clarity, cultural fluency, and purpose to the movement.
Dan Wynne is a longtime advocate for justice reform and community-based support for system‑impacted youth. His work centers on mentorship, community advocacy and elevating the voices of young people navigating incarceration and reentry. Dan’s leadership and commitment to youth empowerment make him a respected figure in the reform space and a powerful voice, offering insight into both policy and lived experience.
KP is a formerly incarcerated youth who spent his teenage years in the juvenile detention system, where he first met C.P.. Seven years free, he has built a stable life, a family he is proud of, and a career grounded in responsibility and growth. KP is known for his honesty, loyalty, and the deep trust he maintains with C.P., speaking openly about how her support helped him navigate trauma, rebuild his identity, and choose a different path. His lived experience brings authenticity and truth to conversations about youth justice and healing.
Kathie Klarreich is the founder and Executive Director of Exchange for Change, a Miami‑based nonprofit offering writing, leadership and communication courses in Florida prisons and local county jails. Prior to her work with the incarcerated population, her three‑decade career as a journalist included reporting from Haiti for ime, The Christian Science Monitor, ABC and NPR. Through her work, Kathie amplifies voices from marginalized communities and champions storytelling as a path to connection and transformation.
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