Lake County inmates build Habitat for Humanity home

EUSTIS, Fla. (FOX 35 ORLANDO) - Lake County inmates are working together it build a home with Habitat for Humanity. At the same time they’re learning valuable skills to take with them after serving time.

Jared Hainey is one of the first to take part in the Inmate Construction Academy.

“It’s really nice,” Hainey said. “We get to learn new skills and do stuff and we also get to give back to the community.”

Hainey and the other jail inmates are all low-level non-violent offenders who found themselves on the wrong side of the law.

“Poor choices,” Hainey said about the crimes he committed. “Possession. Made a poor choice to decide to possess something I wasn’t supposed to have and I’ve grown from it and learned from it.”

Now he’s getting a second chance to make something right.

“You see a lot of people end up there because they don’t have a purpose — and this gives them a purpose,” Sgt. Fred Jones with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said. 

On the job site they’re learning new skills.

“Something they can put on their resume!” Danielle Stroud of Habitat for Humanity said. “They will have their hours and all of the activities they completed during the program. They need a reference - they can call us.”

The best part is seeing their hard work come together. 

“When I get out I’m gonna work and hold a job and be a productive citizen to society,” Hainey said. 

And when the job is done, a family in need will move into their new home. 

“That makes me happy,” Hainey said. “That gives me more initiative to work hard and make the house look food for the people who are getting it and have a need for it.”

A project helping the community in more ways than one.