Incarcerated teens in South Carolina build homes for families in need

Feel good story of the day: incarcerated teens in South Carolina recently partnered with Habitat for Humanity to build a house for a family in need. The kicker? They actually built it in a juvenile detention center and had it transferred out by a huge crane. 

Margaret Barber, the director of South Carolina's Department of Juvenile Justice, explained, "we want [the houses] to be built behind this razor wire, we want this message to continuously get out, that we build back, not just tear down."

She elaborated in this local news article:

DJJ Director Margaret Barber said this project, the first of its kind in the nation, is a “win-win” because DJJ teens learn marketable job skills that will help them after they too are on the other side of the fence, plus the community gets a boost.
“What we’re trying to do is give them a job skill they can take with them when they go out to the community and go up to a contractor and say ‘I would like a job.’ They need a certification, we can offer that certification. They can build a house then they can be experienced in electrical and plumbing and carpentry and brick masonry,” Barber said. “These kids can give back to the community as well, where some of them may have gone into a home and destroyed property, they’re building a home now, they’re building property to give back to the community.”

Liz Wu is a Digital Accounts Manager at Prichard Communications, where she oversees digital outreach for Reclaiming Futures and edits Reclaiming Futures Every Day. Before joining the Prichard team, Liz established the West Coast communications presence for the New America Foundation, where she managed all media relations, event planning and social media outreach for their 6 domestic policy programs. Liz received a B.A. in both Peace and Conflict Studies and German from the University of California at Berkeley. She tweets at @LizSF.