On Thursday August 15th, the Duluth YMCA’s Camp Miller in Sturgeon Lake finished their summer program. While the campers have left, there’s plenty of work left to maintain the camp. However, the staff don’t need to cleanup the campground and facilities all by themselves. The Willow River’s Challenge Incarceration Program, offered to lend a hand with cleaning the cabins, mess hall and other rec. areas as the camp staff prepare for the fall season.

Camp Miller’s Executive Director, Ricky Wright, says Willow River’s Challenge Incarceration Program has helped out for the past several years.

“We had a lot of kids here this summer that can tend to be a little rough on the facilities. So we’re going to get them cleaned up and spruced up for the weekend. They’ll also get some of our program areas ready. An example of something that they’ve done for us that was a huge help for this summer is our kids love using the lake, and we have a boating area and a swimming area and a pretty extensive dock system. And without the help of CIP, we would not have had our docks in this summer.”

Willow River’s C-I-P Work Crew Sergeant Brent Weegman says the inmates in the program feel a sense of purpose. However, when the program first started, not many people were willing to give inmates a chance to perform community service.

“There wasn’t all that many jobs. We weren’t well known, for the jobs that we’re doing now. Well, through the last, three or four years now, more people have picked up on us. Now, I got so many jobs, I just can’t get to them all. There’s just no way. So another crew helps with these guys, and they love it, it really helps change a lot. So these guys really do a great job and they help the community quite a bit.”

The Minnesota Legislature first mandated the Challenge Incarceration Program at Willow River’s Correctional Facility in 1992. This minimum security boot camp program, allows non-violent individuals who qualify to earn early release to perform acts of community service. It’s a six-month, intensive program for up to 180 men who have non-violent drug and property offenses.

Components of the Challenge Incarceration Program include different forms of Education, Vocational and Restorative Justice. These include education, critical thinking skills development, chemical dependency treatment programs, and rigorous physical exercise. 

For more information about the Willow River’s Challenge Incarceration Program you can read more here. Also for other stories happening in Sturgeon Lake you can read more here.