Cynthia Morrison, 40, doesn’t want to be remembered for her past, but for her future. Her past landed her in the Dayton Correctional Institute (DCI) for theft of guns and cars on Jan. 9, 2012.
But in her future, Morrison sees herself obtaining a construction certificate with the goal of working in her family’s construction business upon her release.
Before DCI, Morrison spent 27 years of her life addicted to drugs, but after enrolling in the Advanced Job Training Program that Sinclair offers, she has been sober for 13 months. Morrison has two semesters left to complete her construction certificate.
“I wanted to do something with my time and keep busy–not just wallow around–but change something in my life,” Morrison said. “I didn’t want to resume living the way I was. I wanted to make positive changes and not be stuck where I was in my life.”
The partnership
For more than 25 years, DCI has partnered with Sinclair to provide inmates with the necessary education and job training skills in order for them to be productive members of society upon their release.
“DCI is a medium-security prison for inmates who have a sentence of eight years or less, and they are rehabilitated through education,” said Coordinator for the DCI program Tom McAllister.
Sinclair offers students in the Advanced Job Training course certificates in construction supervision, help desk analyst, drafting and design and computer support technician.
DCI has approximately 900 inmates, of which 67 students are taking courses.
“Currently the state of Ohio is willing to pay for certificates but not for degrees,” McAllister said. “It costs more to obtain an associate’s degree versus a certificate.”
Inmates enrolled in a college course were 50 percent less likely to return to prison, according to a study by Ashland College. If the student is released before they complete their certificate, any college credits that they earned would transfer easily to Sinclair.
“We don’t have any hard evidence, but I think at least 25 percent of the inmates who are released have obtained jobs in their certificate programs,” McAllister said. “We don’t have anything conclusive because once they leave DCI it is difficult to track them, but several have been in contact with us and tell us that they have obtained a job.”
The fear of rejection
“Being in prison is not what I wanted for my life, but it is where I needed to be.”
Julie Rouse, 41, was caught on Sept. 28, 2009 for passing bad checks, and has been incarcerated for three years.
She is now enrolled in computer information systems and business courses at DCI. Her plan is to transfer to Sinclair after she is released on Sept. 1, 2012, just two and a half weeks before her 42nd birthday.
“Just being in school in general has taught me how to handle money better and learn to ask for help,” she said. “I think that it has been great to have Sinclair here, so that we can utilize this.”
Growing up, Rouses’ life wasn’t headed in the wrong direction until she met her ex-boyfriend.
“I thought I needed to buy things to have them love me,” she said. “So I would write the checks and purchase items knowing that I could not afford them. The experience [being at DCI] has taught me that I don’t have to have a man in my life, and I don’t have to have the fear of rejection.”
Johna Wood, 47, was incarcerated when she was caught making methamphetamines during a drug raid.
She was sentenced on June 21, 2011, and will be released May 14, 2014. At the end of the summer, she will complete her help desk analyst certificate.
“These classes are really good,” Wood said. “All the info we are learning has been very useful.”
When she completes her certificate she wants to enroll in a dependency counseling course.
At the end of her sentence, Wood would like to finish her associate’s degree at Sinclair.
“I hope that these classes will help me get out,” she said. “It’s really important for me to get out and do better in my life.”
Making an impact
Thirteen Sinclair instructors make the weekly trip into the 75-acre institution to teach 19 courses at the prison.
“The teachers are really hands-on,” Morrison said. “It’s good because if I have questions, they are always there to help me. And I can ask questions in my dorm with other students who are taking classes.”
Morrison said that the teachers have provided her with the guidance to succeed in her courses.
“I don’t know anything about computers,” she said. “But they help me through it. And here I can say that the teachers really do care.”
Kinya McBeth, assistant college coordinator, has seen a tremendous amount of change in the students since she started working at DCI in September 2010. She is the liaison between DCI and the college, and teaches a Tuesday and Thursday open lab. During that time, she serves as an educational provider, mentor, tutor and friend to the students.
“I fight for them, and I really challenge them to push themselves harder,” McBeth said. “I don’t see them as they were in their past because every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.”
McBeth said she pushes her students so when they are released they can empower other women and juveniles. Her top priority with her students is helping them break through the barriers of self-doubt, self-hate and low self-esteem.
“DCI gives them an opportunity to reinvent themselves,” she said. “I look at this as a way for them to change their thinking or as a way for them to start thinking for a change. It is very rewarding to empower the women, give them the resources to be successful and a glimmer of light for their future.”
Heidi Arnold, associate professor of communication, has been teaching an interpersonal communication course at DCI since the fall of 2011.
“The students are hungry for an education, respectful and interested in what they are learning,” Arnold said. “I feel that I am making a bigger impact than I do in Building 2.”
Both McBeth and Arnold said that teaching at DCI is an invaluable experience.
“Society looks at them and think that they shouldn’t have an education because they are being afforded an education through taxpayer dollars,” McBeth said. “But these women are on the Dean’s List and gaining an education. I rather fortify them with employable skills, so that they can come out and be productive citizens.”
The students’ lives after prison
“I am ready to go home, and see my family,” Rouse said.
Rouse said that family is her first priority when she leaves DCI in September. She especially wants to see her daughter.
“It has been a long time,” she said.
Rouse plans on selling her paintings at Traders World in her down time, and she also wants to spend most of her time getting reacquainted with her daughter. Then she will enroll at Sinclair.
Morrison has other goals.
She wants to open up a shelter and a soup kitchen upon her release in 2016.
“I’ve always brought animals and people home, so it has always been my life-long goal just to help the needy.”
The shelter/soup kitchen will be named after her grandmother, who passed away several years ago.
“When I am released, I am going to be in the church and helping the young children come to know God at an early age,” Morrison said. “So that I can possibly help my community turn itself around.”