Christie Luther recalled that moment washing hair when she knew she wanted to start a cosmetology school at the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center in McLoud, Oklahoma. Her professional license gave a little glimmer of hope that she could get a job once she was released from prison. With over 35 years of experience, she worked in the beauty shop at Mabel Bassett.
Other women wanted to work there, too, but many didn’t get a chance to learn or finish their cosmetology education. She wanted other women to feel the same hope. “I always say I met God at the shampoo bowl," she said.
Released after four years, four months, four weeks and one day, Luther promptly got in touch with the Department of Corrections and the Oklahoma State Board of Cosmetology and Barbering, both of which supported her idea for a prison program to give incarcerated women job skills to use when they're released. In 2015, the program called “Re-Entry Investment Student Education” or , got its nonprofit status. The doors opened at Mabel Bassett two years later in 2017 with about 20 students out of 200 to 250 applications.
Today, there are 28 students enrolled at the prison and 11 enrolled in the diversion school in Oklahoma City, including the school’s first male student. So far, not one graduate has returned to prison. Oklahoma’s prison experience often includes violence and death, and the state sends more people to prison than the national average, according to a .
The state ranks fourth in the nat.