Incarcerated women get job training, clothes for reentry in first-of-its-kind Bay Area Goodwill store

MILPITAS, Calif. (KGO) — Incarcerated women are getting real-world work experience while serving time behind bars.

The Elmwood Correctional Campus in Milpitas has set up a first-of-its-kind Goodwill store to serve as a transformative program.

“I’m telling you from ground up, this place was empty – we set up the racks, we sorted clothes, we put them on hangers and then it went from there, it went from an empty room to a little store,” Sinica, a Goodwill job trainee said.

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This store is organized and now run by incarcerated women, like 46-year-old Sinica.

The first-of-its kind program aims to help these women get hands-on workforce training in warehousing, inventory and logistics.

“We get to get out of the dorm for a few hours, to come to work and it’s like, we get to leave jail for a few hours so it’s something I’m truly grateful for, it goes beyond words can express for somebody like me,” Sinica said. “Not only am I getting clothes to leave here with, and some dignity to leave with, I’m also getting job training and job experience and possibly job offers when I leave.”

Jessica Castello with Goodwill of Silicon Valley says this project came to fruition a little more than a year ago when the Santa Clara County Sheriff first approached Goodwill asking for clothing donations.

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“We wanted to make sure that not only are we giving them something to leave with and have some dignity, but also have some training so that when they were released and reentering society, they were able to come to us and work with us and have that paycheck,” Castello said.

As women at the facility near release, they will now have the opportunity to shop for clothes free of charge.

And the ones who participate in the program will leave with new skills, confidence and the promise of job with Goodwill.

“These individuals should be leaving with dignity and respect, so they don’t have to use the clothes that they were incarcerated in and be triggered by the trauma of their arrest,” Capt. Rita Roland, Commander of the Elmwood Correctional Campus said.