Participants of the Industries Program at Two Bridges Regional Jail recently custom built a donated a book shelf to the Young Adult Room at Wiscasset Public Library. The library staff is delighted to have the shelf to better display items for the collection. This room is used mostly by middle school and high school students and is specifically designated for students to read and work in a space of their own.

The Industries Program at Two Bridges Regional Jail is a self-sustaining program designed to assist offenders with a successful reentry into the community. In order to qualify for a job in industries the inmates must be incident free for 30 days and have a high school diploma, a GED or be working toward one. Inmates that work in Industries are paid $1.50 per hour; 25 percent of their wages go toward their fines and restitution, 25 percent goes toward room and board to the facility.

The program offers several different work opportunities including the Jail Commissary, where inmates can buy hygiene products and a number of other items. The Commissary workers are responsible for packing orders and keeping an inventory of the items available. The wood shop program teaches safe use of tools and construction techniques. The workers build a number of different items that can be purchased from TBRJ or at a number of different gift shops in the area. Any money earned by the Industries Program is used to sustain the program as well as providing funds for various Community Service projects.

Two of the most successful projects are an Inmate garden and building toys for the Lincoln and Sagadahoc Toys for Tots programs. The garden provides area food pantries with several thousand pounds of food each year. Seven to twelve workers are involved in the entire process of starting seedlings, planting, tending and harvesting. Every year, the wood shop and craft programs build hundreds of toys for the Christmas toy giveaways.