Denver Inmates Cleaning Up....Yards

Augustine Narcisse has spent 30-some years in the tidy brick house on a well-kept Denver street.

But, as her children moved on and Narcisse grew older, then retired, it became too difficult for her to keep up the place.

The grass grew too long. The leaves piled up. Eventually, someone complained.

But instead of citing Narcisse and causing her more problems, Denver officials did something else — they sent inmates to Narcisse's home to clean it up for her.

"I don't know what I would do without them," said Narcisse, 73. "You know you get old and slow, and you do need the help."

Since May, Denver city jail inmates have been making weekly rounds to the homes of elderly and disabled residents who need help maintaining their yards.

"We take care of little minor issues," said Denver Sheriff's Deputy Michael Newtown. "If it's a tree branch that's fallen, or (at) a lot of homes, we'll take the trash out for them and stuff like that."

This winter, they'll shovel snow.

Rocky Mountain News