There were 287 volunteers active at the end of FY95. They work in religious services, drug and alcohol abuse counseling and rehabilitation, with the review boards which oversee discipline of inmates, in Black History Month presentations, Hispanic Month activities, with PreStart classes, and serve as interns in recreation and clinical services departments. Volunteers are working every day at both the main facility and the work camp. Their hours for FY95 totaled 5,363 and they have helped to prepare many inmates for a better life, both now and when they are released. A new curriculum component called life skills has been added to the Adult Basic Education program.
Life skills instruction comprises one-third of the student's daily school learning experience.
The construction occupations class at WICC built prefabricated walls for a Coles County Habitat for Humanity House. The wall units were transported from the correctional center by truck and erected by volunteers at the construction site in Charleston. The project allowed inmates to further develop their construction trade skills and provided a much needed service to low income families. Presently, a second home is being planned and coordinated through Lutheran Social Services. A total of 1,252 inmates attended School District 428 and MacMurray College classes during FY95.