Prison-Habitat partnership helps women build skills

CRANSTON – Select inmates from the Dorothea Dix Women’s Minimum Security Facility are learning valuable skills while helping others, thanks to a public-private partnership between the R.I. Department of Corrections and Habitat for Humanity of Rhode Island-Greater Providence Inc.
A volunteer construction crew that varies slightly from week to week, but includes up to 12 inmates from the Dix facility, has been helping to build a new house for a needy Providence family.
“It gives the women hope and makes them feel they are making a difference,” Carole Dwyer, warden of the women’s facilities for the DOC, said in a statement this week. “Not only is the project providing them with important skills that could help them find work in a growing field for women upon release, it’s also helping them build positive relationships, something that’s been lacking in most of their lives.”
The project is part of Women Build, a Habitat program underwritten by Lowe’s that overseen the construction of more than 1,000 homes nationwide by female crews. Female inmates are assigned to the project by Correctional Officer Grace Ellis, and are accompanied and supervised by Correctional Officer Danilo Claros.
“We are very excited about this partnership with the women’s prison,” said Habitat’s Kathy O’Malley, director of the local Women Build. “It gives the women the opportunity to learn new skills, and to build their confidence through teamwork.”
The house they are helping build – at 815 Potters Ave. – also is part of Habitat’s First Families Building Homes Across America program, in which governors, their spouses and other state and local leaders are helping construct new homes for families in need in every state plus the District of Columbia. First Lady Suzanne Carcieri is the honorary chairwoman of the Rhode Island effort. She attended the wall raising in September, along with Gov. Donald L. Carcieri and other elected officials. (READ MORE)
The building – slated for completion in March – will be occupied by Sheila White, a mother of five and grandmother of one. As is traditional in Habitat projects, the Whites also are participating in their home’s construction.
Habitat for Humanity International, based in Americus, Ga., is an ecumenical ministry that welcomes all people dedicated to eliminating poverty housing. Since 1976, it has built more than 200,000 new homes in nearly 100 nations. Additional information is available at www.habitat.org. Its local affiliate – Habitat for Humanity of R.I.-Greater Providence Inc. (www.habitatprov.org) – was founded in 1987.
Information about the R.I. Department of Corrections and its programs is available at www.doc.ri.gov.