Credit: WPR By Sarah Lehr
Drivers flash headlights, beep horns outside Taycheedah Correctional Institution.
The Taycheedah women’s prison in Fond du Lac is surrounded on two sides by a long, county road.
That road gave Marianne Oleson an idea.
“I thought if we could get a bunch of cars and they all have their headlights on, they’re going to see us,” Oleson said.
Since last fall, Oleson, who co-directs Ex-Incarcerated People Organizing, or EXPO, has been bringing people together to drive their cars past Taycheedah while flashing their headlights and beeping their horns.
People gather for a Mother’s Day caravan to Taycheedah Correctional Institution on Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Fond du Lac, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
The first headlight caravan happened just before Thanksgiving and another took place around Christmas. The most recent caravan was Thursday, just days before Mother’s Day.
One of the participants was JenAnn Bauer, a mother of three who used to be locked up at Taycheedah. She’ll never forget celebrating Mother’s Day from behind bars.
“I felt heaviness,” Bauer recalled. “You see it on women’s faces. You know, it’s mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers.”
Now that she’s out, Bauer wants to ease that heaviness for other women.
JenAnn Bauer, who was formerly incarcerated at the Taycheedah Correctional Institution, holds cookies she brought to the Mother’s Day caravan Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Fond du Lac, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
On Thursday night, she met with more than a dozen other people at a grocery store parking lot. Some of those people drove hours to be there, and EXPO organizers passed out gift cards for gas to help with the expense.
Shortly before 8 p.m. the group got into cars and drove about 2 miles to Taycheedah.
Deandrea Hardman was one of the drivers. She’s an activist with EXPO, who used to be incarcerated at Taycheedah. In Hardman’s car were two women who just got out of prison this spring.
As they approached Taycheedah, Hardman checked in with them.
“Are you guys feeling OK?” Hardman asked.
Hardman remembers the anxiety she felt when she first saw Taycheedah after getting out.
“The first couple times I thought I was gonna, like, throw up,” Hardman said. “It’s hard to go back here … and I’m not an anxious person.”
Taycheedah Correctional Institution on Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Fond du Lac, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
But, as the sun set and the prison came into view, Hardman started smiling and bopping her horn.
After driving in front of Taycheedah once, the procession of cars turned around in a cul-de-sac so it could drive by again. The organizers had reached out to Wisconsin’s Department of Corrections in advance, so officials were aware of their presence.
Although caravans are not allowed on prison property, people are free to drive on the county highway in front of the facility, a DOC spokesperson said.
Cars pass by the Taycheedah Correctional Institution twice to let incarcerated women know they’re remembered for Mother’s Day on Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Fond du Lac, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
Debbie Ramos was one of the women inside Taycheedah when the parade of vehicles went by. She says she missed the Mothers’ Day caravan because prison officials passed out medications later than normal on Thursday night.
But Ramos said she was able to witness previous caravans. And, she says, word about the caravans spreads quickly in prison.
“It warms the heart to know that people out there still care, and they do what they can,” Ramos said in phone conversation with WPR. “We’re not throwaway people.”
She added, “We would wave if we could.”
There are currently more than 1,000 women incarcerated in Taycheedah, even though the facility was designed for just 650 people.
That contributes to a grim atmosphere on the inside, Oleson said.
The Taycheedah Correctional Institution on Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Fond du Lac, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
“When it’s overcrowded, there’s limited resources for everyone,” Oleson said. “That means there’s limited time for programming. There’s limited time for phone calls. There’s limited time for showers.”
Despite those conditions, Oleson hopes the caravans bring some joy — even if it’s for a short window of time.
That’s why, just days before Mothers’ Day, Oleson chose to return to the prison where she used to live.
As she drove by, she rolled down her car window and blasted Isley-Jasper-Isley’s “Caravan of Love.”
