A group of inmates graduated Thursday with welding certifications after completing a program run by Ivy Tech Community College in Fort Wayne, Ind.
This story by Chris Darby originally appeared on Wane.com.
The program, part of Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb’s Next Level Agenda, trained the men incarcerated at the Chain O’Lakes Correctional Facility to weld. After competing course requirements, the inmates received American Welding Society certifications.
According to a release from Ivy Tech, “welding is an exceptional pathway for released offenders and provides them higher pay rates and stable employment upon re-entry.”
“Next for me? Just wait on the interview process for Dexter Axel in Albion,” said certificate earner Staniko Hannah. “Then I’ll come home with a job paying good money … more than a job, it’s a career.”
Some of the graduates have already qualified for work-release or have a job secured.
