Students bring wellness tips and activities to employees at the Cumberland County Jail

Students Suzanne Winter and Kelly Pitre take a jail employees through a stress relief exercise
Students Suzanne Winter and Kelly Pitre take a jail employees through a stress relief exercise

Students from several different UNE programs spent a week at the Cumberland County Jail helping corrections officers and staff deal with stress and other health related issues.

UNE Students have been volunteering at the jail for several years, working with inmates while under the close supervision of faculty and jail personnel.

“What's wonderful is that the corrections officers have been observing us do this for many years, and they asked us to do this for them,” explained Jan Froelich, M.S., OTR/L, associate professor in the Occupational Therapy program.

This is the first time students held wellness activities for the people who work in the jail.

"I feel like it's our turn to take care of them," Kelly Pitre (Occupational Therapy, ’19) told WCSH. "I'm passionate about it. This is a great way to put my skills to the test.” 

Wellness Week at the jail is a pilot program run through UNE's Office of Service Learning. The office encourages students to use the skills they learn at the University by volunteering in the community.

When a crew from WCSH visited the jail, students from Nursing, Occupational Therapy and Applied Exercise Science were working together on wellness activities for the employees.

“They’re getting leadership skills, interprofessional skills and consolidating their understanding of other professions,”  Froelich said. “They come to a much deeper understanding of what each other has to offer.”

Last year the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office presented students from the Westbrook College of Health Professions with its 2018 Volunteer Appreciation Award for their work with the inmates.

WCSH's Shannon Moss interviews student Libby Alvin
WCSH's Shannon Moss interviews student Libby Alvin

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.