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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. --The local black lives matter group is fundraising to bail out women for mother's day.

Inside the walls of the Pulaski County Jail, there's about 150 women and mothers behind bars.One group is hoping to reunite black mothers with their children, just in time for Mother's Day. "We planned on bailing out 3 women, and now we will be able to bail out about 6-8 women," says one of the organizers, Zach Miller.

Miller says the goal was to initially raise about $1,500. Through online crowd funding ,they've been able to raise twice as much. "The black community is a community and anytime our women are taken away from us, the community as a whole suffers," says Miller.

Dee-Ann Newell - with Arkansas Voices for the Children Left Behind- says she's seen the long lasting effects on children whose parents are locked up. "When you start looking at ethnicity, it's 1 out of 8 children of color has experienced the loss of a parent to incarceration," says Newell. Newell says many children with parents behind bars suffer trauma- even well after they reach adulthood. "It's not easy to let go of that stigma and the kind of shame that goes with it," says Newell.

For now, Miller hopes he's able to reunite as many families as possible, for the upcoming Mother's Day holiday. "Ultimately, I would love to bail out every single black woman, who can get bail in Pulaski County Jail," says Miller.

Read more:
"Black Lives Matter" Organizers Create Fundraiser to Bail Women out of Jail for Mother's Day - KARK