Five inmates from the Barnstable County Correctional Facility are about to dive into some of the furniture and other office effects being moved into a second-floor office suite. “They worked tirelessly and at the same time maintained their sense of humor,” writes Diane Pratt, executive director of the Cape Cod Center for Women, in a message to Sheriff Jim Cummings. The sheriff dispatched the crew. The old office was in Falmouth and this new one is but shouting distance from the National Cemetery rotary in neighboring Bourne.
One of the inmates is back to start another trip up the stairs. File cabinets were a popular item, lugged to their newly assigned room location by a half-dozen strong backs, a couple of two wheelers and elbow grease applied as needed. Pratt says it would have cost about $3,000 to hire a moving company for the job, “so having these men do it means a lot to us. We’re a very small non-profit.” The money saved will now remain available for a much larger new shelter that the center hopes to purchase in the near future. This site, as noted, houses office space only.
Now we’re on the stairs, which begs the question: No elevator? Actually there is one, next to the inmate partially obscured at the foot of the landing. But the building, formerly a furniture store, is so newly renovated that the elevator was awaiting inspection on move-in day. Better safe than sorry, so up the stairs it was . . . again and again.
That’s Pratt, left, standing next to but a small portion of the boxes, computer gear, and related paraphernalia that constitute a 21st Century office. The rest did arrive and was carefully placed in its appointed spot. Concluded Pratt: “They (the inmate crew) made the entire move much less stressful. It was a huge, huge help for us.” Also in picture is Robin Cabral, the women center’s manager of development & communications.
Media release and photos furnished by Barnstable Sheriff’s Office
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