COLUMBIA COUNTY, Fla. — Inside the walls of Columbia Correctional Institution, toughness is a part of everyday life. But a new program is proving that even in a place built for hard lessons, compassion can take shape — literally.
Eleven inmates at the institution are now sewing hand-crafted teddy bears as part of a new textile initiative aimed not only at teaching job skills, but also at giving back to the community. The bears are designed to provide comfort to children who experience traumatic events, and soon, they’ll be riding in Lake City Police patrol cars.
Inmate Jonathan Tucker, one of the program’s participants, explained the process with pride.
For Tucker, the project represents far more than just work.
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“Definitely a good opportunity because I get to make a change in other people’s lives,” he said.
The operation inside the prison runs like a small production line. One inmate traces and cuts the patterns.
“Once you get the pattern traced out, I cut it out, and then that’s when the creation starts,” Tucker explained.
Another inmate sews, and another stuffs each bear by hand. Normally, the textile shop focuses on uniforms, bedding, and linens, but staff members wanted to expand the inmates’ skill sets before their release.
That idea led to the launch of the Teddy Bear Program, spearheaded by Assistant Warden of Programs Krissy Stanford.
“But also through making a teddy bears is kind of broken down some walls and has opened up the communication where they’re talking more about their families and their kids and experiences that they’ve had, and it’s just it’s been a wonderful program all the way around,” Stanford said.
The bears will soon be placed in Lake City Police Department vehicles, ready to be handed out to children experiencing trauma on police calls.
Assistant Chief Andy Miles said the bears will make a meaningful difference.
“We put them in patrol cars, and when officers are on a scene for some sort of traumatic event has occurred and the child was there. It seemed to be shaken up for whatever they give that bear to the child,” Miles said.
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The program’s impact reaches beyond the children who will receive the bears. Staff members inside the prison say the experience has changed them as well.
Officer Ramona Fleming, who has spent 33 years working inside the institution, says she’s never seen anything quite like the positive energy surrounding the project.
“Most definitely, my whole heart, soul is into this teddy bear program,” she said.
The success of the effort is already inspiring expansion. Plans are underway to sew lap blankets with matching stuffed animals for residents in local assisted-living facilities, soft pieces of comfort made in a place where few would expect such things to be created.
As the first batch makes its way into police cars, inmates like Tucker said the chance to help others has become its own form of motivation.
“Well, that’s what motivation because I’m putting smiles on other people faces and I’m giving the opportunity,” he said.
So far, inmates have donated 14 hand-crafted teddy bears to the Lake City Police Department, with more expected to be completed before Christmas.
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