{"id":16662,"date":"2016-12-03T21:49:40","date_gmt":"2016-12-04T05:49:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/crocheting-together-for-help-hope-at-kenai-prison\/"},"modified":"2016-12-03T21:49:40","modified_gmt":"2016-12-04T05:49:40","slug":"crocheting-together-for-help-hope-at-kenai-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/crocheting-together-for-help-hope-at-kenai-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Crocheting together for help, hope at Kenai prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOMER \u2014<\/strong> In the fiber art of crocheting, yarn gets connected together by making loops with a hook \u2014 \u201ccrochet\u201d means \u201csmall hook\u201d in French. Loop enough strands together and you can create shawls, scarves, hats, bags and sweaters.<\/p>\n

Crocheting doesn\u2019t just connect fiber. On the Kenai Peninsula, crocheting also connects two programs serving women: Alaska Correctional Ministries in Kenai and South Peninsula Haven House in Homer.<\/p>\n

Under the umbrella of the prison ministry, Ardath Mumma of Homer and Susan Smalley of Kenai have been visiting women once a week in the pretrial facility at Wildwood Correctional Complex and teaching them to crochet. The work those women do in turn gets donated to Haven House for sale at Homer Thrift, its thrift store, with proceeds benefitting Haven House\u2019s Child Advocacy Centers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing,\u201d Mumma said. \u201cI never thought I would want to go into prison and be around people who have broken the law. I love those ladies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using donated yarn and plastic crochet hooks purchased through the Inmate Council, a fund for prisoners for things like craft items and sporting goods, the Wildwood women make crocheted items like hats for homeless people or kids with cancer.<\/p>\n

The Child Advocacy Centers in Homer and Kenai offer a safe, nonthreatening place for counselors, health professionals and police to talk with child victims of sexual or physical abuse and investigate the crimes. Haven House director Missi White said the money raised through sales of crochet items at Homer Thrift will support a simple need: snacks and food for children and their families when they visit the Child Advocacy Centers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere tend to be needs that arise that we can never forecast from case to case,\u201d White said. \u201cThose are the kind of things that money can help us supply.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smalley said the Wildwood women support that use of the proceeds from the sale of their work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat brought tears to the eyes of many woman,\u201d Smalley said. \u201cMany have been in that situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Started in 2012, Homer Thrift also serves another need. Clients of Haven House who escape from domestic violence sometimes need job and life skills to become independent, self-sufficient women. Homer Thrift has a 19-week program that teaches women marketable job skills \u2014 and gives them a job.<\/p>\n

\u201cHomer Thrift is more than a thrift store,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n

Mumma helped make the connection between Homer Thrift and the Wildwood crocheters. Paula Dean, manager of Homer Thrift, said she noticed Mumma coming in and buying yarn. She asked Mumma what she did with it and Mumma told her about the Wildwood women.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I started setting some yarn aside and donating it to her,\u201d Dean said.<\/p>\n

That lead to another idea: selling the finished projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got to talking. I thought it would be cool if we could sell it,\u201d Dean said.<\/p>\n

Wildwood has been doing a crocheting project for men in the minimum security camp for about six years, said Wildwood Correctional Complex Superintendent Shannon McCloud.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt went along like gangbusters. I said, \u2018It\u2019s really unfair the women don\u2019t have anything,\u2019\u201d McCloud said.<\/p>\n

The crocheting program for women celebrates its third year this month. Participants use plastic crochet hooks, considered less a security risk than metal hooks or knitting needles. The women\u2019s program at Wildwood is only for defendants awaiting trial. A program like crocheting classes fits the needs of that group.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really keeps them busy. We don\u2019t have a lot to offer them because they\u2019re moved around,\u201d McCloud said.<\/p>\n

Women taking the crocheting classes also have to participate in other classes. The classes also are a privilege, Smalley said \u2014 something the women respect.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of them are pretty motivated and interested in going to classes anyway,\u201d Smalley said.<\/p>\n

McCloud said crocheting helps keep prisoners calm and can be especially beneficial to people with drug addictions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re getting some clarity. It\u2019s something they need to keep their mind off what they\u2019re going through,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Crocheting also gives the prisoners a chance to feel normal, Smalley said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can talk about crocheting. They can talk about making stuff for someone when they get out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you changed their clothing and the locale, it would be just like Knitty Night at Knitty Stash,\u201d Mumma said, referring to a weekly knitting session at a Homer fiber arts supply store.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you saw us sitting there, we would look like any group of women crocheting, laughing and crying and sharing,\u201d Smalley said.<\/p>\n

Because the women use donated yarn, that also forces them to be creative, Smalley said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you go to Joann Fabrics, you get the yarn you want. If you\u2019re at Wildwood, you get the yarn you have,\u201d she said. \u201cThey put together things in amazing ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smalley has been crocheting about 12 years. She calls herself \u201cthe yarn facilitator.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a super crocheter. I\u2019m not a super teacher, but I\u2019m willing to beg for yarn and go in and teach the women,\u201d Smalley said. \u201cPeople in the community have been really generous with donating yarn. In three years we\u2019ve probably donated enough yarn to go to the moon and back.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the central peninsula, yarn can be donated at Smalley\u2019s church, Soldotna United Methodist Church. In Homer, Mumma said yarn donations can be dropped off at the Knitty Stash on Main Street. Because the yarn needs to be washed, donations should be acrylic and not wool, Mumma said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like that\u2019s something God has placed in my heart,\u201d Mumma said of her work crocheting with the Wildwood women. \u201cI want to do something for those women so when they get out they don\u2019t fall into a black hole and when they get out they\u2019re reoffending.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a real gift for me,\u201d Smalley said. \u201cIt can be a success where successes are few and far between. It\u2019s a positive thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

White noted how the gift of the Wildwood women\u2019s work circles back to help the women and children of Haven House.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey feel a sense they\u2019re contributing to a community,\u201d she said. \u201cThose types of actions are just huge. They create such a positive impact. That really speaks to the character of the people who are doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Michael Armstrong is a reporter for Homer News and can be reached at michael.armstrong@homernews.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HOMER \u2014 In the fiber art of crocheting, yarn gets connected together by making loops with a hook \u2014 \u201ccrochet\u201d means \u201csmall hook\u201d in French. Loop enough strands together and you can create shawls, scarves, hats, bags and sweaters. Crocheting doesn\u2019t just connect fiber. On the Kenai Peninsula, crocheting also connects two programs serving women: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":417,"featured_media":16663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[230],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-16662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-state-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/417"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16662"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=16662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}