Some color was added to the once-white walls inside the Kent County Jail. And there's big meaning behind the massive murals.
It's all in the name of providing community members better access to mental health resources.
“I think it’s very important that they have their own space,” Leatha Olson, a local mental health service provider said.
Those who are housed in the jail now walk out to this.
“I love the saying up there by Victor Hugo: 'Even in the darkness, the night will end, and the sun will rise again.’ I think it’s just awesome. Because it’s true,” Olson said.
It's a brand new space at the Kent County Jail, specifically designed with female inmates who come into the jail with mental health or substance use struggles.
“We’ve been talking about the rise in female incarceration rates, the rise in mental health and substance abuse problems that need to be addressed," Lyndsie Cole, Chief Deputy with the Kent County Sheriff's Office said.
Chief Deputy Lyndsie Cole spent 21 years working in corrections prior to becoming a deputy chief.
For her, this new space creates an area that's intentionally focused on providing rehabilitative services to those who need it.
"Most of the inmates that come into our facility are people that are going to end up back in our communities at some point. It's important that we support that population while they're with us," Cole said.
Cole says nationally these types of spaces are becoming a trend in a correctional setting.
Everyone there that FOX 17 talked with noted it's about more than the writing on the walls, but rather, what the new space represents.
“To highlight just, femininity, power, courage, all the things that you would want to feel supported while you’re in a space like this,” Cole said.
The new space is expected to open in a few weeks. The murals were all painted by E'lla Webber, who has numerous art installations all around Grand Rapids.
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