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| RI DOC Teams Up With Habitat for Humanity |
| By Rhode Island Department of Corrections |
| Published: 10/06/2011 |
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Cranston – RI Habitat for Humanity of Rhode Island – Greater Providence, Inc. and the Rhode Island Department of Corrections (RIDOC) have teamed up for the Habitat Prison Partnership, a program that gives select inmates from the Women’s Minimum Security Facility the opportunity to learn valuable skills and give something back to the community by helping to build a house with a deserving family as part of a volunteer construction crew. The team of inmate volunteers varies slightly from week to week but includes up to ten female inmates who work on-site at the future home of the Ruth Cedeno family located at 20 Newcomb Street in Providence. The women are assigned to the project by Correctional Officer Grace Ellis and accompanied and supervised by a Correctional Officer from the Women’s facilities under the supervision of Lt. Joseph Avila and Lt. Mark Moore. Since July, they have been transported to the site on Fridays and Saturdays and work there from approximately 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Site supervisor, Andre Castonguay, says the inmate crew is a blessing because unlike the volunteer crews he would normally have on a Saturday, it’s a regular crew he can count on being there twice a week on a dependable schedule. “They have great attitudes,” he says. Castonguay was site supervisor on the Women Build project the RIDOC women inmates participated in four years ago and, according to Herman deKoe, Executive Director of Habitat Providence, he has a great rapport with the women. “It was a good fit, then,” says deKoe, “so I decided to place the women with Andre again.” deKoe is also grateful for the consistency of the crew, saying “It helps tremendously to have the same crew coming back each week. They know where the tools are and what to do and just pick up where they left off last time. Normally we have different volunteers showing up so it’s like starting over each day.” deKoe also mentions the positive energy of the prisoners, saying, “Their enthusiasm is great and they clearly like being there!” The Newcomb Street house is a four bedroom, one-and-a-half bath with a full basement. It is expected to be completed by next July. It is being built with and for Ruth Cedeno, a mother of four daughters ranging in age from three to fourteen. As is customary with Habitat houses, the Cedenos are participating in the build. They are on site every Saturday and Ruth is so grateful to the prisoners she occasionally makes them homemade food for lunch. Donna Collins, deputy warden of the women’s facilities for the RIDOC, is equally enthused about the project. “It provides the women with hope and makes them feel they are making a difference,” Collins notes. “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 forge positive relationships, something that’s been lacking in many of their lives.” The house is one of eight new and three rehabs deKoe expects to be started by Habitat Providence this year and finished next year. The organization currently has six houses under construction in Providence and plans two more. “We have expanded our capacity over the last few years,” deKoe says proudly. This year (2011) eleven house starts, next year 12, then 13…. And so on |
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