Inmate-Made Masks Help Community and Those Incarcerated, Jailer Says

An organization in Tehran, Iran is helping women "looking for work to make handicrafts" by allowing them to use donated sewing machines as a means of becoming self-sufficient despite high rates of unemployment. When the coronavirus pandemic impacted the market, however, they shifted to making masks. Specific sales figures for the masks aren't available, but participants say they are grateful to be able to learn a new skill for free.

Across Colorado, grassroots groups have come together to create homemade masks for the state’s most vulnerable populations to protect against COVID-19. Two of those populations are Denver’s Downtown Detention Center and Denver County Jail. Groups like Dena’s Mask Making Army, the Mask Mavens, and even some AA and sober living communities have rallied together – virtually, of course – to use their sewing skills to fill the mask needs, about 3 masks per person, for those experiencing incarceration.

A Ugandan company called TEXFAD is taking the stems from banana trees that would normally go to waste and is turning them into new textiles like rugs, place mats, and hair extensions. Over its eight year existence, TEXFAD has grown to also employ 23 people, many of whom started in their internship program for students. While the cost to make these products can be expensive, the textiles are biodegradable and use less water and land to produce.

A new program through Adams State University hires incarcerated professors to teach in prison bachelor’s programs, providing them training and income while giving more people access to education behind bars. Students report that they prefer learning from someone who understands their experiences and is available to connect with outside of formal classes.

The non-profit défi-job offers incarcerated people with permission to leave the semi-open prison for their working hours employment contracts to create new, more fulfilling job opportunities, as well as necessary skills training. The group also accompanies people during their job search to help them find permanent forms of employment. Data has shown that at the end of the contract, 90% of employees have found work in the first or second labor market.

In the nine years since its founding, Dream Again Prison and Youth Initiative has helped more than 2,000 incarcerated Nigerians prepare for success in work and life after they leave prison. Using mental health support, vocational training, and financial aid after graduates leave prison, the program works in six prisons in an effort to combat the country's rising recidivism rate. Much of the focus is on helping would-be entrepreneurs start their own businesses rather than rely on existing businesses that may not want to give the formerly incarcerated a second chance.

Compassion International Organization trained over 100 women so that they have the skills and equipment to produce masks for the coronavirus pandemic. The first contract was for 900,000 masks, and women were provided with all materials, including sewing machines, and a workshop where they can work. The women, most of whom struggled to make a living because of COVID-19, earned money for each mask they produced. Their enterprises have improved the economies of local communities.

Esperanza Threads provides sewing training to refugees and immigrants so that they can find sustainable jobs and provide for their families. The students learn to make t-shirts, bags, and baby products, which are sold on the organization’s website. To emulate an actual job experience, the two-month long program pays the trainees a stipend for their time and their work. The group partners with resettlement agencies, shelters, rehabilitation facilities, and churches to reach new clients. The training has also had the effect of increasing hope and building self-esteem among the participants.

Lettuce Grow teaches gardening skills to 200 incarcerated people per year in 16 Oregon prisons and juvenile detention centers. The teaching includes college-level courses and hands-on gardening on prison grounds, which then yields hundreds of thousands of pounds of fresh vegetables for prison kitchens. Graduates of the program commit many fewer crimes than the average ex-prisoner and have found work after prison at nurseries and in other horticultural pursuits.

Prison Books Collective and a partner organization, N.C. Women's Prison Book Project, for 15 years have collected donated books and then distributed them inside North Carolina prisons to incarcerated people who crave new reading material. Answering requests, which sometimes can be quite specific as to genre, the groups fulfill orders from their revolving supply. Combined, the groups make up to 75 shipments per week and in return hear from people inside about how meaningful the donated books are to them.