It was a hot summer day on Saturday, July 13, at the Athens-Clarke County Jail, but that did not stop Nichole Mosley’s bright attitude as she worked to build a small house in the jail yard. Mosley is a graduate of the Future Foundations program, co-run by the jail and Habitat for Humanity.
Mosley spoke about the program and what it means to the women involved.
“We want as many people as possible to take recognition of the program itself and take recognition of what Habitat for Humanity is trying to do for us, on a serious note,” Mosley said. “We do want everyone to pay attention to what this jail's trying to do. We're trying to implement something that's really important to us.”
The program began at a barbecue as a conversion between Spencer Frye, executive director of Habitat for Humanity, and Athens-Clarke County Sheriff John Williams last fall, though Frye said he has been thinking about this for a decade.
The program got its true start in January 2024. This program is unique because the women are being taught construction. Lieutenant Matt Davenport said there are not as many resources for women as there are for men in the jail, so he advocated for the women to begin this program first. Davenport said that the women have come a long way in their training.
The Future Foundations program is designed to give women the lifelongs skills necessary to stay out of prison and restart their lives, and it has already helped these women grow as workers, leaders and people.
“This puts workers in the workplace, it reduces recidivism, which there’s a high 80% chance if they have a place to live and a job, when they leave they don’t go back to jail,” Frye said.
The groups are aimed to range from six to 10 women. To qualify for the program, the women have a list of things to check off - this includes being medically cleared, physically able to work, medication compliant, no violent charges and willingness to participate. Four out of the 10 women in the first cohort graduated, with three pending releases.
“This creates opportunities for women in a male dominated field, which I think is also an incredible thing,” Frye said. “So I mean, working with nothing but ladies to build houses has been incredible as a site supervisor.”
Before the work began, Frye gave a speech to the participants, which included the difficulties that these women face when they try to re-enter society. It can be difficult for them to find work because they need to be able to be found at random and construction job sites are varied. They have to find a job with 30 hours per week, within six weeks.
A recent release who participated in the program, Selena, had a solution worked out for her so that she could be employed with Frye and work in the store. She had someone else pay for her phone so that she could call Frye.
“I can put people to work and I will be willing to make arrangements to overcome some of these hurdles,” Frye said. “But y'all put in the effort. Selena’s put in a great effort.”
Frye spoke on his thoughts about the program and its merit.
“These aren't bad women. They just haven't been told the things that I got told. That is the bottom line,” Frye said. “There's a lot of people that with just a little effort we can bring them back into society and have more rehabilitative programs in place.”
Frye is also the Georgia State Representative. He gave his thoughts on how the government can help women like these and spoke of his faith and how he believes these women deserve a program like this that works off of mercy.
“We are very quick to use our government as a punitive force, but for some reason, we're very slow to use our government for grace and mercy, which, as a Christian, that's what I'm supposed to do,” Frye said “That's the thing - they're normal people….We've all made bad decisions. We all have secrets. We all have things that we have done that we're not proud of. These are the ones that just got caught.”
Nicole Mosley is one of those women who are being given the tools to succeed once she re-enters society. She expressed her gratitude to the officers and jail administration for taking their time on a Saturday to do this for them, as she did not have the same experience in other jails.
One of the administrators there on Saturday was Keith Sims, a public information media analyst at the Athens-Clarke County Jail, who said that the small groups allow for one-on-one attention.
“Nichole has been wonderful. This is one of the veterans that she's been here since the beginning of the program. So she now is able to help mentor many folks,” Keith said.
Mosley, having already graduated and moved onto a higher level, busied herself helping the other women that were not quite as comfortable with the hand saw. Mosley plans to join Selena working at Habitat for Humanity after she is released. Even in the summer heat, Mosley maintained a positive attitude of gratitude to be working outside.
Sim’s husband, Jonathan Sims, taught construction 101 classes to the women, where the women built saw horses that were used while working on the house.
Sims says that there is a waitlist of 15 women and that the current group will also be building a ramp for the lawnmower shed and eventually a playground to be auctioned off.
Another member of the group, Amelia Laney, who goes by Nikki,said that she planned on telling her kids about it and said that her son would be very excited about it.
“I am 33 and I just cut a piece of wood for the first time in life,” Laney said.
Laney said that employers willing to hire her do not pay much, but working in construction would allow her to make more money. She also said that there are more men than women in the jail, and the fact that this program is geared toward women made her feel good.
After the women finished their work session, they made their way into the cafeteria. As they chatted over pizza and soda, the women were told by the security guard that they would be able to cut the grass once a week, which earned some applause. They were also given the job of Orderlies and the security guard talked to them about the new rules while Frye Frye took the opportunity to encourage them to embrace this leadership position.
“He just made y’all leaders.” Frye said. “I would imagine that your work out there and them being able to see how you interact with people and the leadership that you're showing out there, is the reason that he's choosing you to do stuff inside, okay? And then it will all work when you get out too. You've got to gain these skills right now while you have the opportunity.”
