SPENTEM WAS FOUNDED IN THE BOWELS OF A MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON in 2018
While engaged in teaching prisoners the traditional sciences of religious theology, Imam Taymullah noticed a pattern of disconnection from the men when it came to being emotionally vulnerable, acknowledging their traumas and realizing their dismal position in the social strata. Using his graduate background in leadership psychology, he began to explore strategies that centered the humanity and living context of the men. He advocated for the men to put down books of theology and jurisprudence and pick up their own stories to heal, repair and restore their faith.
In a span of months, the Spentem curriculum began to attract scores of men inside prison who had no interest in organized religion, but instead wanted to learn about how past trauma informed their identities and the choices they were making. Sometimes the prison chapel would be so full, administration would have to call a fire hazard and remove all the men standing in the door way, packed in the back of the room, or hunched over almost on top of one another.
The Spentem approach to social wellness quickly became known outside of the prison walls and by the end of 2018, Spentem had secured several contract with the Boston Children's Foundation and International Trauma Center to do collaborative trauma-informed work in the greater Boston community. Today, Spentem has partnered with SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), Mass Department of Public Health, Boston Police, as well as many schools and universities in shaping culturally responsible strategies that address the traumas and moral injuries of those negatively impacted by their relationships and/or public systems.
