Work Release and Community Service Programs

Plowshares partners with the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office and Mendo-Lake Alternative Services to provide a structured environment where participants with certain misdemeanor sentences and fines have the option of completing community service hours in lieu of jail time or paying fines.

Plowshares is the ideal location for participants to perform community service. Participants at Plowshares develop essential life and employment skills while assisting the cooks, performing janitorial duties, serving, performing maintenance and garden tasks, and assisting with administrative duties.

While serving, participants are immersed in the culture of volunteerism which Plowshares relies on to perform daily operations. Additionally, participants have the opportunity to serve those less fortunate; many of the guests served at Plowshares suffer from substance abuse issues, mental health issues and homelessness.  Community Service and Work Release participants serving at Plowshares are able to grasp the complexities of the outcomes of their choices in life.

In this way, Plowshares supports the community in an impactful way by providing a way for Work Release and Community Service participants to “give back” to their community in a rehabilitative environment.