By Stephanie Lam
Bay Area News Group
MILPITAS, Calif. — At the Elmwood Correctional Facility, there is one color inmate Mayra sees everyday and everywhere: neon orange. And she’s sick of it.
So when the opportunity came around to volunteer sorting and restocking civilian clothes on the racks of the facility’s first Goodwill store for incarcerated women — the fashion-lover jumped at the chance.
“I work in the laundry (at Elmwood), and we sort through the same color outfit. Sorting through something different makes time go faster … it makes us feel normal.” Mayra said recently standing in the store, an arm’s length away from a row of hangers fitted with colorful shirts and sweaters.
None of the inmate’s last names were disclosed by Santa Clara Sheriff’s office to protect their privacy.
Goodwill of Silicon Valley recently opened its first-ever store inside Elmwood to help women get hands-on retail training and to provide inmates with free clothes upon their release. For store volunteers like Mayra and the women who get to shop, the space has become a place for them to feel connected to the outside world.
The store is a converted facility storage unit lined with a variety of second-hand shirts, sweaters, pants, shoes, underwear and socks, complete with a small dressing room and check-out register. Women who have shown good behavior and undergo a training program at Elmwood are offered the chance to volunteer and manage the store, help inmates shop and operate equipment like a cash register – which comes with fake barcodes for them to scan to mimic a checkout process.
Jessica Castello, Goodwill of Silicon Valley’s vice president of retail, said the program is giving women the tools and confidence to improve their lives. The volunteers will be able to gain practical work experience environment and apply for retail positions, especially at Goodwill stores, upon their release. “They can go straight to us, knowing how to do the job.” Castello said.
Goodwill of Silicon Valley has 17 retail stores throughout the area, including on Calaveras in Milpitas.
The program comes at a time when national data reveals that formerly incarcerated people have an unemployed rate of more than 27%. An estimated 70 million people in the nation have an arrest or conviction record and more than 600,000 people are released from jail each year.
Santa Clara County holds the fifth largest jail system in the state, and among the 20 largest systems in the nation. Approximately 30,000 arrestees are booked annually, according to the county’s Sheriff’s Office.
With a clothing store on the premise, women will get chance to walk out of the facility with dignity and respect, according to Capt. Rita Roland, who oversees Elmwood. When an inmate is released from the facility, they are given a plastic bag containing the clothes they were arrested in or came into custody. Wearing those clothes can be a traumatizing experience, Roland said.
“Clothes can be soiled or stained,” she said. “Even if they are clean, it could trigger memories about the time they came into custody.”
When Goodwill volunteer Sinica first came to the facility, she was wearing only a hospital gown and socks. As Sinica swapped the gown for an orange jumpsuit, she wondered what kind of clothes she would wear upon her release. Now, she’s grateful for the option to be able to chose her outfit.
“To have this program come in while I’m in jail, that right there was kind of mind blowing for me. It’s something I never heard of,” she said, standing inside the store recently.
For Jessica, another inmate, volunteering at the store reminds her of working at San Jose’s Goodwill of Silicon Valley store before her incarceration. The retail skills are starting to come back, she said, and reminding her of simpler times. Jessica’s said favorite part of being at the Elmwood store is getting to support the women who shop.
“I love it because the girls come in and they’re tearing up and smiling that we have this available,” she said.
Mayra, who has never worked in a retail store before, said getting to experience a work environment that also helps her fellow inmates is life-changing.
“We’re not in jail,” she said. “We’re making a difference.”
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