Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Inmates crochet for Haiti


UTAH STATE PRISON -- American aid workers and U.S. dollars have been pouring in to Haiti ever since a massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake on Jan. 12 rocked the tiny nation’s capital area near Port-au-Prince. And Haitians are about to get some more aid from one of the unlikeliest places: crocheting inmates.

Offenders in the Utah State Prison’s ConQuest and ExCell substance-abuse rehabilitation programs have been knitting intricate, bright-colored toys and clothing for the Haitian people from yarn that has been donated by the community.

The idea to donate knit gear to Haiti came from ConQuest director Donna Kendall. It’s mandatory for the offenders to research news and keep up on current events, so when they saw the news coverage of the devastating earthquake, they were excited to help in whatever way they could, Kendall said.

Within weeks, small groups of men from ConQuest and females from ExCell finished off an entire supply of yarn, spurring some inmates to plead day after day for more materials so they could crochet more teddy bears, caps and blankets for the people living in tent cities whose homes and entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble.

The charitable attitudes may come as a surprise – afterall, many of these donors are locked up because they have taken from society. But some say that’s exactly why they’re now giving back – part of a broader effort to make amends with the public.

“We’ve taken a lot from society, but now we’re forced to look at what we’ve done,” said inmate Jeremy Reed. “You can’t put in to words how great it feels to do something for someone else. It helps me to feel a human connection. And now we want to step it up and do something positive for this nation going through a disaster.”

Some offenders crochet during restless nights by the glow of an emergency exit sign, others find free time on weekends while they watch TV. For Reed – who learned everything he knows about crocheting in prison – it takes an average of one hour to make a cap, while a blanket can take around eight to 12, depending on the size and the pattern.

Fellow inmate Jamie Birch sorted through a sack full of clothes and toy knit bears, pointing out that all the white yarn in the bunch was purchased by inmates. Some donated not only their time, but their own often scarce money and resources to craft clothing and toys for the Haitians.

“It takes up time with positive energy,” said Birch. “A lot of our self-esteems hit all time lows when we got to prison. But you have to collect yourself. Before now, a lot of us couldn’t say we did anything for someone.”

And the same goes for the women, according to Gregory Hendrix, who oversees the prison’s ExCell program. He said the knitting projects bring the female offenders a sense of joy from making someone’s suffering a little less painful – all while they learn new skills for coping with recovery from their own drug or alcohol abuse.

“Many of the women have suffered trauma and understand pain and suffering,” he said. “The yarn project helps in the healing process as they give back to the community.”

Though there are hundreds of thousands affected by the earthquake who will never see the donations from Utah inmates, Reed said doing a little is better than doing nothing.

“It doesn’t matter – you just do what you can,” he said. “Change is possible. It doesn’t matter where you are, what your circumstances are – you can do something to help. You don’t have to be rich or famous.”

When they aren’t focusing on natural disasters, both male and female inmates crochet for the needy in our local community, including Primary Children’s Medical Center and other charities. But they are in constant need of yarn. If you would like to donate yarn to the prison, or if you know someone who would, please contact Donna Kendall at dkendall@utah.gov or Gregory Hendrix at 801-576-7811 (ghendrix@utah.gov).


PHOTO: Inmates Jeremy Reed, left, and Jamie Birch, right, show off various hats, blankets, bears and scarves. They and their fellow ConQuestadors crafted the materials to donate to victims of the earthquake in Haiti.