Activity center provides place for visiting children at county jail

Dr. Lorelei Stein believes reading is the foundation of success in school. This was her motivation behind purchasing three boxes of children's books at the Border's Outlet in Grove City.

There was a great sale that day, she recalled - buy four and get a fifth one free. She, along with members of Alpha Phi Sigma, donated the books to the Allegheny County Jail Family Activity Center.

"We felt very strongly that the mission of community service is an important aspect of Point Park," Stein said. She is the faculty adviser of Point Park University's Eta Alpha Chapter of Alpha Phi Sigma and associate professor and director of the criminal justice administration program. Alpha Phi Sigma is the national criminal justice honor society.

The organization and Stein believe their donation will help children learn basic skills while waiting to see an incarcerated parent. A few of the books included "1-2-3 A Child's First Counting Book," "My First Book of Time," "Big Book of Dinosaurs" and "The Wiggles - Shake, Wiggle and Roll," a pop-up songbook.

The money to purchase the books was acquired through a fundraiser. Alpha Phi Sigma set up tables in front of the Point Cafe and had posters in the university atrium. Green mouse pads illustrating the Point Park logo and a picture insert were sold along with raffle tickets for jackets.

Stein said the Point Park library was the fundraiser's biggest contributor having purchased mouse pads for computers in the University Center. The library used the picture insert to display computer lab instructions.

Stein and Alpha Phi Sigma presented the books to the Family Activity Center on Dec. 15. Warden Ramon Rustin was present to accept the donation. Dr. Charles Perkins and Dr. Gregory Rogers, an assistant professor and director of the intelligence and national security program, accompanied Stein. Also present was Greg Lipner, a recent graduate of the master's program in criminal justice and distinguished member of Alpha Phi Sigma.

Perkins commended the honor society for its donation and said the Activity Center is "very pleasant and welcoming." He explained that for a child who may have to wait awhile to see a parent, the center is a very wonderful place.

The Gwendolyn June Campbell Elliot Family Activity Center of the Allegheny County Jail is designed to serve the needs of children and guardians waiting to see an incarcerated loved one.

Visitors to the jail are not permitted to bring personal possessions with them. For children, no toys or crayons may be carried inside and security personnel allow just one bottle and one diaper for babies.

Often, visitors must wait hours to see an incarcerated loved one. Prior the unveiling of the activity center in 2007, this was very stressful for children to endure.

Now an area of the lobby offers a variety of educational activities for children.

Not even adults can resist the large red pinboard in the middle of the area. When an object is pressed against it, a detailed impression is made on the opposite side. Volunteers at the center press secret messages into the pinboard.

On Feb. 2 it read, "Happy Groundhog's Day!" Later, one little girl took pleasure in destroying the message to make her own full-body print.

A mural titled, "Can You Find…" by Michele Goyak wraps around the entire center. It depicts a jungle scene with a bright red bird, a monkey and a tree house. Children are given a list of items hidden in the mural. Among them are a football, a toothbrush and a treasure chest.

Volunteers at the center boasted that one child was able to find all the hidden items in only twenty minutes.

Goyak has several "Can you find…" murals painted in stressful environments for children, many of them hospitals. Children can keep their minds busy while focusing on the hidden items. At the activity center children keep their minds off the stress of having to visit a parent in jail.

Also in the activity center are toy blocks and cars, a slide, books and a television. The center is staffed with volunteers who play blocks with the children and arrange craft activities. On Feb. 2, the volunteers were making pink headbands for Valentine's Day which they wore around the center. The volunteers also gave out snacks and read to the children.

There is a designated reading area where books are continuously circulated to ensure that there is always something new to read. All the books at the activity center are donations from generous organizations like Alpha Phi Sigma.

The activity center also extends its hand out to parents and guardians of children.

Sometimes all the adults need is someone who will listen, Family Activity Center Coordinator Shirlene Jones explained.

"We walk around and engage people and if they want to talk, we are here. If they don't, we respect that," Jones said.

But Jones explained that the center does more than simply listen.

Sometimes a family member gains guardianship of a child while the parent is incarcerated. Jones said these adults sometimes need help acquiring anything ranging from a bed to emotional counseling for a child.

The staff uses its on-site Internet resources to help answer questions and give guidance. Help does not stop after visitors leave, either - the staff follows-up with individuals to make sure their needs are being fulfilled.

Robert Canter, a volunteer who plans to attend Point Park's criminal justice program in the fall, said that he is at the center almost every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Saturday is when the center is most active because it is contact day, Canter said. This means visitors do not have to sit behind a pane of glass, but can actually make physical contact with their incarcerated loved ones. Naturally this is the reason why so many visitors are children.

One young woman accompanies a little boy and girl into the activity center. Jones immediately engages her in conversation. After a moment, the visitor explains that getting kids ready to visit the jail is a huge task, but that contact day is her motivation to visit.