Prisoners in the program also have the option of taking architecture classes offered by Del Mar.
Corpus Christi, Texas — The Newses County Sheriff’s Office is giving some of their inmates a chance to pave the way for future generations.
The Sheriff’s Department at Youth Football League Stadium shares the importance of cleaning up different areas of the county and who benefits the most.
Prisoners clean different areas of the community each week. “To the nonprofits in the community who need help maintaining the land,” Newchest County Sheriff “JC” Hooper said in an interview with 3NEWS.
After all the rain across South Texas, there is still a lot of work to be done. City parks and youth football pitches are the tasks of the week.
“Along the fence line, on the pitch, under the stands, there’s just overgrown greenery everywhere,” Teresa Winston, treasurer of the Corpus Christi Youth Football League stadium, told 3NEWS.
Not every inmate registered in the county is eligible for the program. Hooper explained, “We can’t bring violent criminals here. We can only bring nonviolent criminals here who don’t have any history of escape, escape, or violence.” He added: “Of the roughly 1,200 inmates at our facility, , we only have about 11 prisoners who are eligible for this exercise in public.”
It’s not worth sabotaging this opportunity because this program is a privilege.
One non-violent inmate told 3NEWS, “Because I know my days are coming soon, I’m ready to come here and get a real job and start working again.”
He usually handles brush cutting. He’s going all out when he’s training on these courts because at that time, he was playing on the court at a very young age. “This one, the one we worked on a few days ago, I played both,” he explained.
He has only a few months left in prison. When he’s done his time and is in the world, that’s when he can hit the reset button. “I mean, whenever I go out, I’d love to come here and try to mentor and offer some kind of help or assistance, volunteer or whatever,” he said.
He has high hopes that children playing on the field will appreciate simple things like playing football with friends. “Don’t go the way I used to go. Stay in the wild, because here, behind walls, it’s not fun,” he explained.
Prisoners in the program also have the option of taking architecture classes offered by Del Mar. The goal is to provide prisoners with new ways to become independent after serving their sentences.
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