Residents of the Town of Long Island have noticed several improvements to buildings in their community, thanks to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office Community Work Crew.
The Community Work Crew is a pre-release program for low risk inmates from the Cumberland County Jail. The inmates (or “mates”, as they are affectionately referred to by the Long Island community) provide labor on projects benefiting non-profit organizations throughout Cumberland County.
During the past few months, the mates have helped with maintenance and renovations at the Star of the Sea Catholic Church, Ivy Hall and several other community buildings. Work on the church included scraping and painting the building, re-glazing windows, patching the roof, trimming trees, and rebuilding the church’s cross. Ivy Hall was completely scraped and repainted. Smaller undertakings include projects at the fire station and community center.
In addition to assisting with the maintenance of existing buildings on the island, the Community Work Crew worked on the Long Island Library expansion project at the Long Island School. The mates completed the interior painting of the new space and recently finished painting the exterior trim. With a professional carpenter contractor on hand, the Community Work Crew installed approximately 3,300 square feet of hardwood flooring.
“Getting the interior painted and the wood floors installed moved the project ahead a giant step,” commented Nancy Jordan, who was instrumental in fundraising efforts and coordinating the library expansion project. Long Island schoolteacher Paula Johnson echoed Jordan’s sentiment: “We wouldn’t have had our temporary occupancy permit without them,” she said. While the expansion project still needs a heating system, library shelving, interior fire doors and light fixtures, thanks to the work of the mates, the school has use of the space and there are plans to move books into the new library.
Estimated savings from the labor provided by the mates is between $45,000 and $55,000. With the Community Work Crew providing labor, Long Islanders have completed projects for the cost of project materials and ferry tickets.
Initially, Community Work Crew members had to get accustomed to the microcosm of island living, but they have enjoyed working with the island community. One of the mates commented, “The way we’ve been treated couldn’t have been any better. People constantly ride past and wave and compliment us on our work.” Another mate chimed in, “We have a good time out here.” The mates have found it rewarding to work on projects where they can observe the progress and the benefit of their work.
Islanders have expressed their gratitude to the Community Work Crew in different ways. The schoolchildren baked cookies in appreciation of their work on the library expansion project. An appreciation lobster lunch held at the VFW hall for the Community Work Crew was a particularly special treat. When asked about the lobster lunch, one of the Community Work Crew members immediately said, “That was awesome! With all the talk the week before the lobster lunch I thought it was some kind of festival or something. Then it turned out to be an appreciation lunch just for us.”
Joe Schnupps, a Cumberland deputy sheriff just completing his fifth season on the island, encourages other communities to utilize the Community Work Crew Program. Schnupps commented, “They are real human beings trying to make a difference in their lives and in that, they make a difference in our lives. Everyone wants to see them succeed. I don’t see a negative here. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.” Cumberland County inmates who participate in the Community Work Crew have the potential to reduce their time in jail by up to 15 days per month, a benefit over work-release programs where inmates earn money, but only earn five days off their sentences per month.
After finishing up with their projects on Long Island in mid-September, the mates are off to Peaks Island to paint a Church. Plans are already underway to get the Community Work Crew out to Long Island next summer to paint the Evergreen Methodist Church’s parsonage.