Inmates from Shutter Creek Correctional Institution pull weeds and edge the baseball diamond at Airport Heights Park on Thursday. Shutter Creek is contracted each year to renovate the diamonds at both Airport Heights and Boynton Park in preparation for the North Bend Independent Baseball Program’s season. According to North Bend Independent Baseball Program director John Qualman, rookie (ages 7 and 8) and T-ball (ages 5 and 6) leagues are scheduled to start practice on the week of April 14. Qualman said the inmate work crews are very efficient in cleaning up the parks.-World Photo by Alex Powers
Q: What work tasks are the Shutter Creek inmates allowed to do for community service? Are they able to help the elderly and disabled with brush cutting and removal? Some of us could use some help.
A: Shutter Creek inmates are available to work for local governments and nonprofit organizations, but not individuals.
Julie Martin, a spokeswoman for Shutter Creek Correctional Institution, said liability concerns are the principal reason inmate services are not extended to personal inquires.
“We really focus on the government agencies and private, nonprofit entities,” she said.
Work crews have recently helped with work at the North Bend Hotel, Habitat for Humanity and the Boys & Girls Club of Southwestern Oregon, Martin said.
Crews include groups of 10 inmates and one supervisor. The inmates are first screened, based on their criminal offenses, behavior and medical conditions, before going out on an assignment.
During the summer, approximately 50 inmates are available to help the Oregon Department of Forestry fight wild fires.
Martin said the institution is careful to avoid assignments that might take away business from local companies.
“We do the jobs that wouldn’t get done otherwise,” she said.
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I use to work for the Dept of Corrections over at the Snake River Correctional institution for a few years and at Two Rivers in Umatilla. Some of the Inmates that I dealt with who were getting ready to go to the Shutter Creek Facility felt proud that the system trusted them enough to allow them to make this move. About 40% of the inmates that I talked to and supervised always told me that they felt like this was their second chance and that they were not going to ever see the inside of these facilities again. I always told them that the choice is theirs and that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity because not all inmates got this chance for rehabilitation. Don't Screw it up!!! is what I would tell them before they boarded the bus.
I think they should be able to work for individuals too. It's suppose to be about giving back to the community in everyway not just business and Government. Individuals are part of the community too.
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