Jail Work, Classes Give Veterans a Clean Start

(Chicago Sun Times) — The 13 men in the concrete classroom in Division 3 of the Cook County Jail never imagined they’d end up trading their military uniforms for the beige scrubs that mark each of them as an inmate.  The men — once proud soldiers , several who served in combat units — know that they lost their way. And in a jail classroom and basement laundry, they’re trying to find a new one.  A new program called Clean Start — created exclusively for military veterans in the County Jail — gives the vets two hours of daily classes from Roosevelt University and an eight-hour shift laundering 14,000 pounds of jail uniforms each day.

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