Centinela inmates help raise funds for IVC

Money raised by inmates at Centinela State Prison in Seeley will be put to good use at Imperial Valley College.

According to Imperial Valley College, the $10,000 that will go into IVC’s Restorative Justice account administered by the IVC Foundation comes from Centinela inmates participating in quarterly fundraisers.

An estimated $325,000 raised by Centinela inmates in the past 10 years has been distributed to non-profit programs throughout Imperial County, according to Kenneth Phillips, Centinela’s Community Resource manager, IVC said.

At IVC , the funds raised by inmates will help those described by IVC’s Eduardo Pesqueira as “justice-impacted” students, including those in the Inside-Out Program at the county jail as well as formerly incarcerated students attending classes on the IVC campus. Pesqueira is the college’s Minority Male Initiative Coordinator.

“We have a close relationship with IVC ,” Phillips said, in part due to face-to-face college programs at the prison, where IVC instructors work with students seeking Associates in Arts or Science degrees.

That close relationship involves a prison education program through which inmates can earn associate’s degrees for transfer in the arts or sciences, said Pesqueira . Funded by the California Promise grant, the Prison Education program has been operated locally since Fall 2016 at Centinela and Calipatria State Prisons, Pesqueira said.

Today each prison has four cohorts involving 216 students total. Each cohort offers three to four courses per semester, enabling inmates to be full-time students, Pesqueira said. This Fall, 29 inmates at Centinela and 45 at Calipatria State Prison are expected to graduate with their associate’s degrees for transfer (ADT), although that is contingent on the college being able to staff all of the courses, Pesqueira said. Eighteen more Centinela inmates are expected to graduate in Winter 2020.

Thirty-four of the state’s 35 prisons have college programming. The research is showing that obtaining a college education is having a significant impact on reducing recidivism rates, Pesqueira said.

“Textbooks are always the biggest hurdle, even for our formerly incarcerated students receiving financial aid on campus,” Pesqueira said, given the high cost of many textbooks. The donated money will help to qualify students to purchase textbooks and receive book vouchers and supplies.

Centinela has contributed to IVC students previously with a donation to the IVC Foundation in December 2016, Phillips said.

Inmates have funds, thanks to their families, which are monitored by prison staff, he said. That money often is used for the quarterly fundraisers in which the prison brings in food products from local vendors. Proceeds go toward non-profit programs in the community.

“Through the ongoing support of the community, Centinela helps local children’s and educational programs, food banks, and other non-profit organization,” Phillips said. “It’s one of the most positive ways, if not the most positive way, we can assist our community.”