Officials have high hopes for WEC-construction partnership

Thursday, February 26, 2015
Renee Bauer, above, executive director of Prairie Gold Homes of Lincoln, Nebraska, said Tuesday morning that the new vocational construction program that will be available to inmates at the Work Ethic Camp in McCook will be a good thing for the WEC and for inmates, as well as put affordable housing on the market in McCook. Bauer spoke at a meeting of the Work Ethic Camp Community Involvement Committee, as did (on her left) Mark Wentz, adult education principal of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. Dennis Berry, on Wentz' far left, is the new program director for the Prairie Gold Homes program in McCook. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette)

McCOOK, Neb. -- The warden of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services Work Ethic Camp in McCook sees a new vocational construction program for work camp inmates at the work camp as "a win-win situation" for all involved.

Warden Pam Morello told those gathered for the Work Ethic Camp's Community Involvement Committee meeting Tuesday morning that the WEC's partnership with Prairie Gold Homes will be good for inmates who will learn marketable skills they can use upon their release, and that the creation of affordable housing "will be huge for McCook."

Prairie Gold Homes of Lincoln is a non-profit organization that partners with the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services in Lincoln to provide convicted offenders with education and job training, focusing on the design and building of modular and site-built houses that meet local housing needs.

Larry Wayne, deputy director of the Department of Correctional Services. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette)

Prairie Gold Homes is leasing McCook's former public safety center in which to start a similar construction program training inmates from the Work Ethic Camp in McCook who will build houses on vacant lots in McCook and construct modular homes.

Bauer said Tuesday morning that the McCook program would initially focus on site-built homes. The company's goal is to build two houses a year, plus one modular house (built in the old public safety center) that can either stay in McCook or be shipped elsewhere.

Larry Wayne, deputy director of the Nebraska Department of Corrections, said it will be nice to replicate in McCook the success of Prairie Gold Homes in Lincoln. The program will give inmates vocational and life skills training, and provide "nice quality affordable housing," he said.

Michael Kenney, retiring director of the Department of Correctional Services. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette)

Mark Wentz, adult education principal of the Department of Corrections, said those completing the Prairie Gold Home training will be able "to find a new, legal career path. It's about construction, about building up people, about helping communities. It's a win-win."

The initial class will have six to eight inmates, although eventually each class will have 10 to 15 inmates. Inmates must apply and interview for positions available within the program. The first class will last about 15 weeks; later classes are be finished in 10 weeks.


Pam "Mo" Morello, warden of the WEC in McCook. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette)

Morello told Michael Kenney, who retires as the director of the Department of Corrections in two weeks, that she has appreciated his "true listening and true guidance ... his hand on the rudder."

"Steady as you go," is the philosophy she said she has learned from Kenney's leadership, and has adopted it as her own.

Kenney said that he came to McCook for the Community Committee meeting to say "thanks" to Morello and her staff, whose mission and work are often "misunderstood and unappreciated." He assured them, however, that he understands and appreciates their effort, and he acknowledged leadership at the WEC.

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