Men at Lorain Correctional Institution build beds for children in need (UPDATED)

This story was updated to correct an error. GRAFTON — Twenty-five children in Lorain County will soon be sleeping in their own beds, thanks to work completed by men incarcerated at Lorain Correctional Institution. Lorain Correctional Institute, or LORCI, is the latest partner with Good Knights of Lorain County, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building beds for children in need in the area. On Saturday, about 80 men filled the prison's training center and outdoor space to sand and drill the framework for those beds as part of a build day for the organization — and they're not stopping there, Warden Jennifer Gillece Black said. "What we're trying to do is start an ongoing partnership so that we can have the men that are incarcerated here fill the need that the county has to build the beds," she said. Good Knights Executive Director Roger Dorsey was happy for the help, noting his organization has a wait list of 175 kids in need and his core group of volunteers isn't able to meet the growing need in the county. "Next year we're going to need between 1,200 and 2,000 beds and this is going to be a key component of us being able to get that," Dorsey said. "Being all volunteer, we used to meet once a month, twice a month maybe. Now it's two or three times a week just because our need is so great and our volunteer staff has stayed about the same — so asking folks to call off work to come here in the middle of the week or take way from family … there's no way that we can meet that need." Last year Good Knights built and delivered 387 beds, and already finished more than 600 this year, he said. The plan is for Good Knights volunteers to return to LORCI later this month to train a core group of men at the prison to facilitate build days as the schedule allows — so all Good Knights has to do is order the lumber and pick up the finished product to be delivered out into the community. "We were talking this morning with the men about it … they were like 'This has meaning, I want to do this.' They're enjoying themselves while they're building. Some of them already have leadership skills or carpenter skills," Gillece Black said. "It's also about teamwork. We have men from all across the state, with all different types of backgrounds that today are coming together and they're working together as one to accomplish a project — that's huge." Dozens of men signed up to build on Saturday, and after being approved by prison staff they were paired with Good Knights volunteers to put together the twin-sized frames. Volunteers helped teach the men how to use some of the tools, and some corrections staff worked side-by-side with them manning sanders and other stations to get the 25 frames built. The frames will be put together, including providing a mattress and sheet set, once they're delivered to the families in need. "We had one guy come up to one of our volunteers and say 'You guys brought six beds to my house and my kids loved them,'" Dorsey said. Gillece Black noted when she worked as a deputy warden across the street at Grafton Correctional, one of the men involved with a Good Knights build took the project back to his community in Detroit upon his release. "It's even encouraging them to keep doing this when they get out," she said. "That's why you've got to have that community connection." For more information about Good Knights of Lorain County, including how to get involved or to request a bed for a child in need, visit goodknightsoflc.org. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.