Inmates unlock potential in design programs

by Christina Elias and Gloria Cowdin

The two-lane Highway 5 that winds its way through the fringes of Leavenworth, Kan., seems as unassuming a road as any, bordered intermittently by lazily grazing cows and small barns. About ten minutes into the drive, however, a curve in the road and small upward incline introduce the view of the oldest and largest male detention facility in the state of Kansas: Lansing Correctional Facility.

This facility—red brick and surrounded by beautiful landscaping—is broken into three groups of buildings which house minimum-, medium- and maximum-security inmates. The minimum-security facility is seen first with its  large outdoor yard area where inmates (wearing their standard white shirts, blue jeans and red caps) play various sports or exercise on the track. The minimum security buildings are noticeably older than the other parts of the facility, owing to the age and long history of the prison.

A short walk across the road from the minimum security facility stands a 20,000-square-foot warehouse which houses merchandise produced in separate facilities. When you first walk into the building, you are met with boxes of promotional products stacked four level high, neon green labels advertising names like Gildan and Adidas. The warehouse is fairly quiet besides the music–there are few people there, working quietly. Occasionally, you’ll hear the sound of men calling out to each other from different areas of the warehouse.

These men are inmates at Lansing Correctional Facility.

A company called Impact Design leases this warehouse from the state of Kansas and provides paying jobs to men in minimum- and medium-security custody. While this warehouse is the workplace for some men, most of the 250 inmates employed by Impact work in the medium-security facility in the embroidery and screenprinting warehouses. There, employees manufacture goods that are then sold by local and national apparel distributors, like Adidas or Gildan.

Impact Design is a part of a four-part equation: the customer, the “middleman,” garment distributors and decorators. One of these middlemen is Summit Sportswear, a Kansas City-based collegiate apparel distributor. Summit sells a variety of spirit-wear products, including the uniform fleeces sold in the St. Teresa’s Academy Star Shop. The STA patches on each of these fleeces are manufactured and assembled by inmates at Lansing Correctional Facility. According to the Star Shop manager Marcia Warwick, STA has purchased items from Summit in the past, such as the auction sweatpants, and will continue to purchase the fleeces from them in upcoming school years.

“If it gives [the inmates] something that they feel good about doing and it helps everybody, then it sounds like a good thing,” Warwick said of Impact’s program at Lansing.

Vice President of Operations for Impact Design Matt Bennett  is responsible for hiring the inmates, so he frequently interacts with them and remains in contact with some after their release to help them re-assimilate into society. According to Bennet, many inmates are in Lansing due to “extenuating circumstances” in their lives, which can reappear after their release and increased their likelihood of recidivism (relapse into criminal behavior). Keeping in touch with these former inmates—some of whom have never used the internet or an iPhone—helps ease readjustment into society and prevent their return.

“Because of the program and what we provide, it is a way to give back to the community,” Bennett said. “Coming here was a way of working with these guys . . . [to] help them figure out some of that stuff. I’m helping out on the front lines instead of 10,000 feet away.”

According to Bennett, employees at Impact make an hourly wage of up to $9.50, depending on their position within the company. Just under half—45 percent—of this income is used to pay the prison room, board and taxes; a chosen portion is deposited in a locked savings account, which is accessible after release; the remaining amount can be used for personal spending or to send home to families.

At Lansing, all prisoners begin in maximum-security custody and move down to minimum, depending on time, behavior and circumstances. Once an inmate is in medium-security custody, he is eligible to apply for a job with Impact Design. According to Bennett, all employees start work on the production floor and can work their way up to position in the office. Bennett estimates that there are currently 550 inmates (out of the 1,200 in minimum- and maximum-security custody) on a waitlist to be hired by Impact.

“The need and the desire to work for Impact is tremendous,” Bennett explained. “It makes my guys appreciate what they have.”

Bennett says that “there is not a lot [Lansing] can do to keep the guys busy.” He says there are “not enough programs to keep those [1,800] people busy.” That’s where Impact comes in: for employees of Impact Design, the pay is better, the conditions are better, and there is a bigger opportunity to learn skills they can use after their release, he said.

In addition to the obvious benefits of working for a company like Impact, their time there offers long-term advantages as well. According to Bennett, employees at Impact have a 90 percent chance of finding a job after release and 80 percent don’t return to prison within five years, which constitutes ‘success’ according to the State of Kansas.

Another job opportunity for inmates at Lansing is to work for Kansas Correctional Industries, making street paint, working in the kitchens, doing landscaping and other odd-jobs. According to Bennett, these inmates make around $12 a month to buy all personal and hygiene items, which are sold at regular prices in the prison stores. Conversely, the experience and payment received at Impact can provide inmates with countless more opportunities for life after prison.

According to STA theology teacher Michael Sanem, types of programs like Impact in prisons are good forms of rehabilitation for inmates and help give them a sense of dignity again.

“[These programs] give them something constructive to do,” Sanem said. “They really like having jobs and they take pride in their jobs.”

Sanem volunteers on a bi-weekly basis at Lansing Correctional Facility, participating in prison ministry. That entails reading that week’s readings with the inmates, answering their questions about the readings, and giving them some type of exposure to civilians, he said. He began volunteering at Lansing about a year ago, beginning when his mother met a man named George Steger, who is in charge of the group Sanem now volunteers with—the Bethany Group.

According to Sanem, he found out about their embroidery and screenprinting operations one day while he was visiting with medium-security custody inmates. One of the inmates, he said, mentioned that the name St. Teresa’s Academy sounded familiar to him. This man worked in the embroidery shop and had seen the STA emblem on the fleeces, one of which he showed Sanem. For some inmates at Lansing, having the opportunity to work with Impact can be life-changing.

Greg, who was incarcerated when he was 19, has been an inmate at Lansing for 21 years and worked with Impact for 15 years. He works Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. as a digitizer— meaning he converts digital files into formats the embroidery machine can read.

Like many of his co-workers, Greg never held a steady job before his conviction and time at Impact. He cites his experience at Impact as “invaluable” and plans on becoming Adobe Acrobat certified after leaving Lansing. Greg’s ultimate goal is to take classes at Johnson County Community College and become a graphic designer. To further his knowledge of graphic design, he has purchased books about computer programs with his earnings. Most of his paycheck, however, he places in a savings to use in life after prison.

“I won’t have to worry [about money] necessarily right out of the gate,” Greg said.

According to Bennett, “Having that financial stability makes a big difference” in terms of succeeding post-release. Many inmates do not have the opportunity to open a savings account or gain experience like Greg has, which leaves them virtually helpless after their release.
“[We try to] integrate them slowly back [into society],” Bennett said. “There isn’t anybody really to help them. Their world was here. And that’s the mindset they need to get away from. There’s no other support once they get out.”