Spent the evening in a womens' correctional facility the other night. This is site #2 where we're teaching our graphic novel curriculum: 8week classes, twice a week-- one day with the artist, one day with me the English teacher.

• Houses close to 1,000 inmates
• Serving anywhere from a few years to life
• ranges from minimum to maximum, levels 1 to 5
• treatment wing as well, where women have counseling support, set goals, make their relapse prevention plans, and progress through levels

Much nicer facility (than the jail down south where i work three days a week). Set up like a college quad, with buildings on the perimeter and open space and lawns with diagonal walkways criss-crossing the middle of them. Lots of inmates out and about at 7:30 at night. Laughter. Some walking dogs. 

There's a dog fostering/training program in the prison that we were able to visit. A woman that had been in the program for four years explained it to us-- the parameters, what they do, the benefits. "Saves the dogs' lives, and ours too." Other ladies chimed in and talked about how the program had been a life-saver for them. Gives them a connection to an animal (they're together with the dogs they're training 24/7-- have crates for them to sleep right there in the room.) Gives them purpose, too. Relational, pride in their work...

Whole range of dogs-- little yippers, big chocolate lab, mutts...

Also toured the gym (nice facility), walked by the cosmetology studio where inmates were having their hair and nails done by other inmates. Another big industry is making inmate clothing-- we could see the machines through the windows. In the works for this year in terms of improvements: several new sports fields and an adjacent gardening area. Just south of the facility is a nature preserve with a creek running through. Visible from some of the classrooms, but not from the quad. 

Lots of bunnies in the quad. Lots of em. (Dogs were leashed; left 'em alone.) Otherwise, super-manicured. Not much in terms of wild space, though the lawns and some trees (I think-- but maybe not) and the open sky above are definitely a step up from some jails (limited or no contact with green space, natural environments.) 

Starting round two there the week after next. Books: Little Robot, Anya's Ghost, Page by Paige, Exquisite Corpse, I Kill Giants, El Deafo.