GEORGETOWN COUNTY, SC (WBTW) – The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office Reentry Program works to help inmates return to society, and not prison, after serving time. Now, they are getting a new training facility where they can learn skills to find jobs.
The new facility is under construction at the Georgetown County Detention Center, but it’s not limited to people in Georgetown County. Inmates from Horry County and other counties across the state can apply to participate as well. The participants in the reentry program are building classrooms and hands-on learning stations inside the new training facility. The program teaches skills like HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and keyboarding to make inmates more employable.
Debbie Barr with the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office said this facility is the first time they will have a place specifically for inmates to train. She said regardless of the crime, this program, and now a new facility, can help lead to safer communities when they get out.
“They’re not going back to that,” said Barr. “For the community, it’s better to have someone that’s completely trained in a skill and able to get employment, and go through life-skill classes to see there’s a new way of living.”
Barr said they’ve graduated about 270 people from the program and none of them have returned to prison. A non-profit organization called Amazing Journey, Inc. works closely with the reentry program and donated to make the training facility possible. Amazing Journey and the reentry program will be participating in the Palmetto Day of Giving on May 1 to raise money to train more inmates for a better life after prison. For more information on the Palmetto Day of Giving, visit this website.