For inmates, a breath of fresh air

More than a thousand pounds of peppers, lettuce, tomatoes and other vegetables will arrive on the tables of Rochester families, the results of a vegetable garden cultivated by residents of Maple Lane School.

In the spring, staff members and inmates at the school for juvenile offenders began working on a vegetable garden for families receiving food from the Rochester Organization of Families, known as ROOF.

Kellie McNelly, executive director of ROOF, said she was excited to hear about Maple Lane superintendent Bob Nelson’s proposal. The arrangement benefits everyone, she said.

“We have some hands-on experience for these young men,” McNelly said. “It fills the need we have at the food bank for fresh vegetables.”

Last week, the Maple Lane garden provided 150 pounds of green beans, said Cindy Caturia, food bank coordinator.

“I really just wanted to get out of my room at first,” said garden worker Trenton Huggard, 18, of Lacey. “But it reminds me of my aunt,” he said, remembering the garden and fruit trees in his great aunt’s backyard.

“Helping others while I’m in my position is the best thing,” Huggard added. “Because when we were on the outside, we didn’t care for nobody.”

The correctional facility, operated by the Department of Social and Health Services’ Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration, houses about 200 youths ages 14 to 21 who have been convicted of felonies in juvenile court. Many receive mental-health treatment and attend high school classes.

Counselor Brian McElfresh, who worked on organic farms in the past, has been in charge of cultivating the vegetables, which have been grown organically.

Most of those working on the garden volunteer their free period during school. Sometimes the maintenance crew, which pays $1 an hour, includes the garden in its regular duties.

No one is required to work on the garden, but almost anyone without a behavior problem can participate.

“It’s very inclusive. We’ve actually used it as an incentive,” McElfresh said. “Just getting outside is an incentive.”

Nelson said that the garden was an experiment. There was no way to tell how many people would be interested in working on the garden or how much food the garden would generate.

Now, about 40 residents regularly volunteer in the garden, he said.

It is uncertain whether the garden will continue next year, Nelson said. This year, the Legislature ordered a study on whether to combine Maple Lane with Green Hill Academic School, another juvenile correctional facility in Chehalis, to cut costs. That report is due to the Office of Financial Management on Nov. 1.

Food bank client and volunteer Val Normand said that the amount of fresh vegetables available to families in need skyrocketed after Maple Lane’s donations.