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Program works to prepare Maury County inmates for life on the outside

Daily Herald - 4/8/2020

Apr. 7--The Maury County Jail is offering female inmates a new guided path in the long road to returning to life outside the confines of the local jail.

Initially launched in August 2019, the incarcerated participants of the New Life Pod choose to leave behind the cramped conditions of a traditional prison pod and join a small group of inmates who have promised to dedicate themselves to preparing for the next chapter of their lives.

Out of 95 counties in the state, four received the $250,000 grant to fund the launch of the pilot program.

Through trauma-informed programming, inmates inside the New Life Pod learn how to cope with addiction while also learning skills like entrepreneurship. They read, study and are encouraged to pursue their own passions from creating jewelry to writing poetry.

The participants are encouraged to pursue high school equivalency tests and other paths of study through extensive reading.

They pursue projects that encourage entrepreneurship with community partners that teach both discipline and the skills needed to open a small business.

The program is a partnership between the Maury County Jail, the South Central Workforce Alliance and the jail's Women's Chaplaincy known as Rise Up, Tennessee.

The participants, of which there are currently less than a dozen at the county jail, must pledge to improve themselves as part of the program.

"I feel like what we are doing is making a difference here," said Suzy Pruitt, the program's director. "We need to move the needle. The overall goal is to give them a new life away from alcohol and drugs."

Of the seven who have participated in the program, three have graduated and have since been released, Pruitt said.

Although the county jail remains on lockdown, to protect inmates from the spread of the new coronavirus across the state, the program continues within the walls of the local facility.

"The pod is still on tack and doing well," Pruitt said. "We've worked too hard to let a virus mess us up."

Participants continued their studies earning their high school diplomas and Pruitt says she is currently applying for a grant to hire a full-time therapist for the facility.

As part of the recovery program, New Life Pod participants Ciara Roberts, Cheyenne Nay, Breanna Kelley, Tammy Tuttle and Barbara Elliott have

partnered with former Whitthorne Middle School Principal Linda Lester to launch a new non-profit effort to uplift the community.

Dear Heart Flowers, a local nonprofit organization, delivers hand-made bouquets to shut-ins, nursing homes and friends and families experiencing challenges in life.

The inmates, dedicated to improving both themselves and the community as they prepare to complete their sentences, assemble each bouquet by hand. They trimmed the bows, they wrapped the roses and made the ribbons that were paired with each bouquet.

During a recent project, the participants of the new Life Pod program have made 134 bouquets and 15 arrangements in about a three hour period.

"We can all be a conduit of something," Lester said. "This is a well measured approach to getting back to life. There is so much potential and it excites me. This is something bigger than any of us could see. We are about the same mission and we are not so isolated in what we can accomplish."

The funds collected to support the drive are donated to support the Best Buddies program at Witthorne Middle School.

The program, an international effort, works to enhance the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities with students volunteering their time to help and provide companionship to participants. When the middle school's chapter launched in 2018, more than 10% of the student body wanted to be involved. Whitthorne's program was also the first public middle school in the county to launch a chapter of the program.

"You can talk about education, but there is magic to it," Lester said. "It is that same feeling of community and common purpose. It is something way bigger than anyone of us can see. It is about that human connection. You can only punish people so much. You have got to give them some hope. Something that lets them see that they are still worthy human beings that lets them see they can still accomplish things. And it doesn't have to be complicated."

Pruitt says the effort fits directly with the entrepreneurship capstone that the New Life Pod Program requires.

"We try to leave folks better than we found them," Pruitt said. "They have to do something for the betterment of the community. Something that does not particularly affect them but affects the community. It fits our mission with the pod quite well."

Across the nation, prisons have a recidivism rate of about 70%, the Maury County Jail generally experiences recidivism at a rate of about 60%. For those who pursue their high school degree and participate in at least one rehabilitation program, only 12% find themselves back in jail after being released, Pruitt said.

"We want our participants to see that educated women are cool," Pruitt said. "Educated women can take care of themselves. It is good for them to spend time with Linda, because they have never met people like her. She may have been their principal, but they never got to spend time with her."

The program also gives the participants an opportunity to learn how to negotiate and distribute roles.

"They are learning that there are people out in the community that need their help," Pruitt said. "Even if they are in here in jail, they know they can make an impact in the community."

Those who participate in the New Life Pod also attend weekly therapy meetings both in groups and individual sessions.

"I have not been on lock down in seven months," said Breanna Kelley, one of the program's youngest participants. "I have learned a lot of things living here."

Kelley and her fellow pod mates attend parenting classes and a recovery program.

"Less than a couple percent of people in this building have not struggled with drug abuse," Pruitt said. "It is pretty intense if you want to do this."

The program's participants are kept in their own pod, separate from the prison's general female population. Together, the participants share a large room with several beds, a toilet and a shower.

"We learn to deal with our triggers, we learn boundaries," said Tammy Tuttle.

Unlike other pods at the local jail, the two-tone walls of the room are now covered with inspirational messages and quotes drawn by the program's participants.

With each participant given commissary, the inmates also say they have no need to barter coffee and snacks, a major cause of conflict at the local facility.

"The system is not set up to reward honestly," Pruitt said. "It is set up to award criminal behavior, even though it is criminal behavior that got you in here. Criminal behavior is what keeps you safe here. It's what keeps you alive in here. With this pod, we have tried to change that."

Pruitt said that giving each of participants the same resources creates an even playing field for each of the participants, and secluding them from the general population allows them to concentrate on their studies without having to face the distractions and risks involved when interacting with the jail's larger population.

The participants said the pod provides a refuge from the general prison population and a busy schedule keeps them consistently working on projects.

"It takes the issues off of us so we can focus on improving ourselves" Tuttle said. "You don't have to worry about eating or drinking. Here they help us with therapy. Over there, you don't get that. Everybody is going through things so you take all these personalities and you put them in a room together. It is crazy. I am proud to be one of the first people to be here. We are going to leave it better than we found it. Everybody deserves a change if they are trying to do better."

Tuttle said the program allows her to build trust with her fellow inmates rather than a constant fear of attack.

"We learn to deal with our triggers and we learn boundaries," said Tuttle. "To heal you have to get to the root of the wound. That takes quite a bit of work to get down that deep and pull out those things that we have been hiding for years. This pod gives us the courage to do that. This gives us the foundation and helps us get a support group together."

"I know why I do what I do and I know that because of this pod," Tuttle continued. "If it wasn't for that I would have kept running from it and hiding it. But now, I feel like I don't have to run from it. I don't have to hide from it. I can face it. I can get through it. That is what my goal is in the long run. I know that I can be the person that I used to be before trauma happened. Being in here has given me the tools to do that so when I leave I can be a better me."

They also work in the kitchen and are required to earn their high school equivalency. If they are high school graduates they can prepare for the ACT.

"We are all trying to make peace with our broken pieces. We are learning how to deal with them," said Ciara Roberts, another New Life Pod member.

Roberts and her bunkmates have also collectively decided that they will learn Spanish.

"I see such potential and it excites me," Lester said. "On one hand it breaks my heart that they are here, on the other hand, I thank God that this is available to them. There are some beautiful people in that pod -- their hearts -- you can see it. It's palpable and you can see it. They just have got to have that support, that help and that structure."

As part of the partnership with the non-profit organization the inmates planned to grow their own flowers in a garden at the jail.

"If you don't work on your problems and don't fix what is wrong you are going to keep coming back," said Cheyenne Nay, shortly after taking an exam to earn her high school diploma.

"Here you can try to fix what is causing the issues," Nay continued. "It's a cycle. I have tried a lot of things and drug addiction is a hard thing for sure. Anything is better than what I was doing. Even when you do leave, they are still there."

Decreasing the number of returning inmates to the county jail has been a longtime goal for Sheriff Bucky Rowland.

He said the participant's seclusion from the distractions of the general prison population is one of the program's most successful elements.

"It is about creating a stable environment," Rowland said. "It's good people helping folks that are maybe a little less fortunate. The New Life Pod is a great pilot program. It has been overwhelmingly positive. It is way more intensive and really thinking outside the box. It has been great this far, and we have seen some success in those who have moved outside our walls."

He said the local program will serve as an example to jails across the state and nation in the ongoing effort to decrease recidivism across the country.

"It looks very promising," Rowland said. "There is not one particular fix, but it's a balance of how to deal with addiction, trauma, and how to be productive and a good parent. It takes a broad spectrum and a balance to reach the most people. Locking folks up and throwing away the key does not necessarily work. We need to try to do something while we have them to cut down on recidivism and close that revolving door."

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