An expanded education program is now in place at the Hubbard County Jail.
Life skills classes have been added to the GED program where inmates will have the chance to learn skills such as financing, resume writing, interview skills and parenting.
The Park Rapids Community Education program is geared toward keeping inmates who get out of jail from returning, giving them skills that will help them in the long run.
While some prisoners have a college education, "A lot of them end up in jail because they can't read," Sandy Eberhart, director of Community Education, said.
According to statistics from the United States Department of Justice, about 41 percent of inmates in the nation's state and federal prisons and local jails have not completed high school or its equivalent.
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When these men and women finally do get released from jail many have nowhere to go, no skills, no support system and often return to their old ways. Sometimes the new releases head over to the closest bar.
"We've had guys go out and within hours they're back," said Bill Devine, Hubbard County Jail programmer.
"They don't have the tools," Eberhart went on to explain.
The life skills program is intended to give these people the tools, which will help them work on problem areas in their lives. These are skills that most people take for granted, such as personal hygiene, saving money and how to balance a checkbook.
Dave Free is the life skills instructor who is teaching many of the classes, which run five days a week for one hour each day all year long.
Inmates have the option of going or not. Devine and the instructors hope they will attend class to learn, however, it is expected that many will go because they are bored.
"We're thinking boredom is going to be our best friend," Eberhart added.
During the first day, one man admitted he went to the class to get out of his cell for an hour. "I just wanted to get outta there," he said.
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Greg D.H, who is being held at the county jail, was happy to go to class and said he wanted to "get a new start and learn. I'm hard headed. Hopefully you'll teach me I'm not Superman."
Several women prisoners said they went to class just to see what it was all about.
During the first day of classes, Free administered surveys and aptitude tests to see what levels each person was at and what areas they needed or wanted help in. A couple inmates said they wanted help with drug abuse, parenting and getting more education.
Eberhart said she asked each inmate, "When you were young, what did you think you would be doing at this stage of your life?" Some thought they would be attending college, have a good paying job, be a lawyer, a firefighter, own their private business or be married.
"The answers revealed the dreams that all of us have growing up," she said. "No one grows up wanting to be a criminal."
Many of the people who end up in jail or prison have gone through some sort of devastation. D.H. talked about his personal life living in the projects of Chicago. "I was a project kid all day. When my mother died I didn't have the support I used to have anymore," he explained. He continued to talk of his struggles with drugs, thoughts of suicide and trying to stay on the right path.
It is hard to think that people wouldn't do everything they could do to stay out of the echoing, cement jail cells. Eberhart, Free and Devine plan to give inmates who want to change their lives an opportunity to do so.
In addition to helping the jail population get back on their feet, it is anticipated the program will help save money in the end. The Hubbard County Jail at full capacity will hold 116 prisoners. Devine said it costs about $50 a day for each inmate. When you do the math, it really adds up.
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However, the jail education program relies on grants and donations. Those who would like to donate to the program can contact Eberhart through Park Rapids Community Education at 237-6600. Eberhart is working to obtain a grant and says, the program being in its early stages, they are "in need of funds to support the program or it won't last."
