PENDLETON, Ind. (WOWO) — Indiana Gov. Mike Braun is highlighting community gardens at state correctional facilities as part of his administration’s efforts to prepare incarcerated Hoosiers for life after prison, with the program also supplying more than 100,000 pounds of fresh produce each year to organizations serving people in need. Braun recently visited Pendleton Correctional Facility, where he toured the facility’s community garden and spoke with incarcerated people who work in planting, tending and harvesting the crops. The Indiana Department of Correction says produce grown through its community gardens is donated to food pantries, faith-based organizations and other community partners, with an emphasis on areas where residents have limited access to fresh and nutritious food. The gardens are also being used as hands-on work opportunities for people in IDOC custody, giving participants experience with responsibility and teamwork while allowing them to contribute to communities they may eventually return to. “If we want people to succeed when they leave our correctional facilities, that work has to start long before they walk out the door,” Braun said. “At Pendleton, I saw Hoosiers learning responsibility, doing meaningful work and giving back by growing food for families who need it.” Braun said the garden program reflects the type of practical reentry work he has directed IDOC to emphasize, with the goal of preparing people in custody to return to their communities as workers, neighbors and community members. The governor has made reentry a priority since taking office. His administration says an executive order issued last year directed IDOC to take steps aimed at removing barriers for incarcerated Hoosiers as they prepare to return to the workforce and their communities. The stated focus includes successful reentry, public safety and reducing recidivism. IDOC’s community-engagement reporting also documents broader volunteer and community-service activity involving people incarcerated in Indiana facilities. In its 2023 annual report, IDOC reported more than 119,000 hours of volunteer service by incarcerated participants statewide. Community gardening has been part of IDOC programming for years. An archived IDOC report from 2016, for example, described the department’s efforts to use gardens to fight hunger, while earlier IDOC records document produce donations from correctional-facility gardens to food banks and other community organizations. At Pendleton, one participant, Dewayne Randolph, said working in the garden has given him a greater sense of purpose while incarcerated and changed how he views his future. Randolph said he hopes others recognize that people can change and make different choices, and he described plans to continue gardening with his mother after his release. “All I want is for others to understand that we all have the ability to change and choose who we are,” Randolph said. He added, “We just need to plant seeds and create an opportunity that will become something great.” The Indiana Department of Correction operates Pendleton Correctional Facility as one of the state’s adult correctional facilities. For Braun’s administration, the garden program represents a combination of workforce preparation, community service and reentry programming: incarcerated Hoosiers gain practical experience while the food they produce is distributed to organizations serving people across Indiana. The post Gov. Braun Highlights Indiana Prison Community Gardens as Reentry Tool appeared first on WOWO News/Talk 92.3 FM and 1190 AM. ...read more read less