SOMERSET, Ky. (LEX 18) — Today, five inmates from Pulaski County's Detention Center are getting a chance to invest in themselves and their futures. The day started with hair appointments, interview clothes shopping, and a chance to go through mock interviews before heading into the real thing. But, all the excitement has a deeper significance.
One participant, Holly Sumner, says, "Being able to have a life when we get out, I think, for all of us, we know we messed up and we're all just trying to change our lives, you know."
These inmates have participated and graduated from a 12-week program that trained them in welding. Today, they've gotten up to three welding certificates and one for forklift operation — and biggest of all, a job that will allow them to save money, that they'll get once they’re released.
Another participant, William Burk, says, "If you really want to change, you just gotta do it. Don't let nothing hold you back, what other people are going to think about you, be you, be different."
The program is called CRITICAL which stands for Comprehensive Rehabilitation of Inmates Transforming Individuals, Community and Livelihoods. This is this program's fourth graduating welding class. The Somerset-Pulaski Economic Development Authority, Somerset Community College, and the Pulaski County Detention Center partnered with this program to help inmates with re-entry into the community.
Somerset Mayor Alan Keck says, "Powerful things happen when you don't care who gets the credit and so we all came together and said, 'how can we help these folks, how can we help our employers, and what can government do as a conduit to make that all happen.' That's what SPEDA, that's what our city and county have done and we're really proud of it."
Mayor Keck says this is a program that not only helps the inmates, but strengthens the local economy and workforce. He says it gives everyone hope.
He says, "I talk a lot about hope and opportunity. And, you know, hope in and of itself is not a strategy or a plan but when it's met or married with opportunity, something special happens. And so, you can see the excitement, knowing that they're going to be given a real second chance."
Today's graduates tell me it’s been years since some of them interviewed or had a job. They say their time already served wasn’t easy — but a life-changing opportunity like this one gives them something to look forward to. It gives them hope.
Burk says, "It just gives you something else, something different, something good not doing all that running around and everything, you know what I mean. It's just all right."
The CRITICAL program is offering more than just training and a career — but also a fresh start.
