{"id":50322,"date":"2020-01-30T13:56:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T18:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=50322"},"modified":"2024-11-18T13:59:33","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T18:59:33","slug":"we-are-going-to-be-your-neighbors-acc-helps-break-the-cycle-at-lockhart-correctional-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/01\/30\/we-are-going-to-be-your-neighbors-acc-helps-break-the-cycle-at-lockhart-correctional-facility\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;We are going to be your neighbors&#8221;: ACC helps break the cycle at Lockhart Correctional Facility"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-responsive  embed-responsive-16by9\">\n<div class=\"iframe-container\">\n<div class=\"iframe-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"embed-responsive-item\"   class=\"embed-responsive-item\"   title=\"Lockhart Graduation with ACC&#039;s Continuing Education Program\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4e9quuY2KQY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s hard to adjust when you have been gone as long as I have,\u201d says Amber McEntire \u201cI don\u2019t even know how to work that phone in your hand, but I know how to build&nbsp; electrical circuits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the past 15 years, Amber McEntire has been inside looking out as the world around her changed. During her sentence, news reports were showing cell phones transforming into mini-computers that fit in the palm of your hand, two royal weddings, the Chicago Cubs ending their 108-year drought and winning the world series, and the nation elected its first black president.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHaving a felony conviction is extremely hard, especially for a female,\u201d says Senior Warden Jennifer Brown, Lockhart Correctional Facility. \u201cWe want to make sure they leave here prepared for the outside world. It is important for them to take care of their family and find a home. Just those basic needs make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through a unique partnership with the Lockhart Correctional Facility, Austin Community College\u2019s (ACC) Continuing Education Division is stepping in to provide inmates like McEntire customized training and certification in some of the most in-demand careers in Central Texas from manufacturing to logistics and welding.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have a tremendous opportunity to reach people where they are. That even means reaching them here at the correctional facility,\u201d says Don Tracy, ACC Continuing Education Corporate and Community Education director. \u201cThe training helps them take the next step.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first cohort graduated in August 2019. Each student received national certification in manufacturing \u2014 a skill set that prepares students for careers as a frontline operator or supervisor roles in manufacturing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe all have an interest in having the most skilled workforce possible,\u201d says Tracy.&nbsp; \u201cAlmost all of these women are coming back into our communities. By providing them with the skills they need, we can allow them to get living-wage jobs when they re-enter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Tracy, his connection runs deep for re-entry. His mother was a teacher at a women\u2019s prison in Huntsville in the 1970s. His father served as the superintendent for the Windham school system \u2014 the state\u2019s prison education system.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt is a great blessing for me to be able to continue that work,\u201d says Tracy. \u201cThese are real people we are working with here. They got in trouble, got caught, and are here, but they are just like us. If we can come alongside them and show support; we are so much better off.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Students in the program commit four hours a day, three days a week, for four months to complete the certification program.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe would work all day and then spend all evening in class, but it didn\u2019t matter. We had the drive to do it, and we wanted it badly,\u201d says student Misty Campbell. \u201cWe are labeled, we have a stigma. This is an opportunity that gives us a chance to be able to go out there and know that there is a job waiting for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe can\u2019t get on the internet. You can\u2019t just pick up a phone and say \u2018hey, help me with this.\u2019 A lot of us ladies don\u2019t live in the same dorm. We live on different sides of this unit. So, we learned to work together when we were in class.,\u201d says Campbell.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese students crossed cultural and racial boundaries to come together. They worked as a team,\u201d says Tracy. \u201cIt\u2019s so important to be able to work in teams, problem-solve, and work together because that is exactly the type of skill they will need on the outside.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI can say in all my years of being incarcerated I have never seen anything like this,\u201d says Mary Harris. \u201cI have been locked up for five years, and this is the first class they have given us that was to better our life on the outside, not just look good on parole. They told us on the first day, \u2018If you give 100 percent, we will give you 100 percent.\u2019 So, when we get out of here, there is no way we are coming back.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shortly after completing the program, Harris completed her sentence, was released, and returned home to Tyler, Texas.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m not the person I was when I came here, and I don\u2019t plan on going back,\u201d says Harris.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But once the women are released, the support from ACC won\u2019t stop.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOne of our students got a surprise early release but she still wanted to complete the program. So we drove up to Midland to proctor her exams,\u201d says Tracy. \u201cMaking the drive was an easy decision when you have someone who is dedicated to completing the program and build her future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through a collaboration with the Texas Workforce Commission, the CE Division helps connect its graduates with jobs upon their release.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c It is so important for us to have that, not knowing which direction to turn to, we have a support system,\u201d says Harris.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A new cohort began classes this month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy hope is to not only expand the program at Lockhart Correctional Facility but to expand into juvenile facilities and other adult facilities in the region,\u201d says Tracy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cIt\u2019s hard to adjust when you have been gone as long as I have,\u201d says Amber McEntire \u201cI don\u2019t even know how to work that phone in your hand, but I know how to build&nbsp; &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/01\/30\/we-are-going-to-be-your-neighbors-acc-helps-break-the-cycle-at-lockhart-correctional-facility\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3930,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,13,15,17],"tags":[223,2685,2545,2719,567,149],"class_list":["post-50322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-and-community","category-current-students","category-facstaff-news","category-news-and-announcements","tag-continuing-education","tag-lockhart","tag-lockhart-correctional-facility","tag-logistics","tag-manufacturing","tag-welding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3930"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50322\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}