Inmates give back to the community through building a float

Now for a look at the brighter side of news. The Arizona State Prison Complex in Yuma has a program which allows inmates with artistic abilities to create something for the community.

Recently they built a replica of the Yuma Territorial Prison as a float of the Silver Spur Rodeo Parade.

“Some of the inmates have a very artistic ability so that’s how we select them and we also have different programs through the Arizona Department of Corrections that help us identify inmates,” warden, Carla Hacker-Agnew told News 11.

She also said it helps inmates learn different skills that they can utilize once they are released back out into society.

“One interesting fact many people may not know is that the Yuman Territorial Prison was one of the premier prisons during its time and it offered a variety of programs such as educational programs, job programs and school programs and it was a head of its time and that’s a tradition we still carry with the Arizona Department of Corrections,” she said.

The entire float was made from recycled materials like newspapers, boxes and scrap wood.

Five inmates worked on this float.

“Day after day, little by little, it started coming together,” said Gabriel Marquez, one of the inmates that worked on it.

“It helps get our mind off of whatever else is going on here, you know we can just concentrate on this and get away from everything else,” he said.

The float took them two and a half weeks to build.

“We take pride in what we do and we know it’s going to be for the kids and the community so we take our time to put it together and this is just something we were able to put together,” he said.

The prison has been making these floats for about a year and hopes to continue this program as a way to give back to the community.