Group offers training for female prisoners
POINT OF VIEW Oklahoma City Community Impact Group

BY SUE LOKEY Comments 0
Published: November 7, 2009

Regarding "Creative solutions a must to lower female prison rate” (Our Views, Nov. 1): Oklahoma City Community Impact Group is a nonprofit agency formed in response to the growing number of women being incarcerated in Oklahoma. We have developed training programs in horticulture for females incarcerated within the Department of Corrections. Our program offers this vocational training, at no charge, for female inmates the DOC has selected, and we also have partnered with several government facilities in the local area by providing them with landscaping services at no charge.

Oklahoma has a larger percentage of women imprisoned per capita than any other state. For the female inmate population, prior to their release is a perfect time for this training to be effective. Most of them know their job options are limited upon their release and can, at best, expect to earn minimum wage.

Our commitment to these nonviolent incarcerated females is to teach them the skills they need to promote and develop pro-social friendships, strong interpersonal skills, and to foster a sense of hope in the future by providing them training in a vocational skill that is marketable upon their release. Only through personal relationships can a sense of individual responsibility be re-established that will give these women the commitment to follow through on a path to a life where they can live amongst the local population with a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Oklahoma City Community Impact Group will train and educate female inmates until they complete the program. Our technical program is divided into two main curricula: greenhouse production and management, and basic landscape design. Each is instructed by a certified expert in their field and will be attended by no more than eight inmates at one time. We will also offer a professional development curriculum that will be taught concurrently with the technical program and attended by all inmates.

We have contacts with local greenhouses and landscaping companies, so we will be able to assist the inmates in their search for employment upon their release. Over time, Oklahoma City Community Impact Group intends to establish itself as a program that will be recognized as the gold standard for the rehabilitation of incarcerated females while providing services to government-owned local facilities and as a program that beautifies and benefits the community at large.

We believe our program is unlike any other in the area and will be unparalleled in its operation and success. If you would like more information about our organization, feel free to contact me at (405) 613-4235 or at suelokey@okcimpactgroup.org.

Lokey is executive director of the Oklahoma City Community Impact Group.