Carolyn Atkins and Inmates of MTC

The words greenspace and prison are rarely mentioned in the same sentence, but at the Metropolitan Transition Center in Baltimore, Maryland, this pairing of words is a regular occurrence.

The Metropolitan Transition Center (MTC), located in downtown Baltimore and formerly known as the Maryland Penitentiary, is the oldest continuously operating prison in the Western hemisphere.  MTC is a crossroads prison where inmates go to finish the last years or months of their sentences before being released. It’s a critical place for the inmates because an empowering experience here can be the difference between an inmate returning to a criminal life and to prison, and an inmate returning to society to play an active role and have a more positive outlook on life.

In the year 2000 MTC, TKF and other partners embarked on a journey to create a prison horticulture program that would give inmates the opportunity to learn landscaping skills and receive Master Gardener certificates. Plans were also made for beautifying a dull, gravely prison yard into an outdoor greenspace for an individual and communal space for contemplation and reflection. Both the horticulture program and the prison yard beautification took time to take root among the inmates, the staff, and the Baltimore community, but both projects were tended and cared for with the dedication of firesoul Carolyn Atkins, the former MTC Assistant Warden.

A dedication ceremony was held in May 2006 for the green meditation garden. It’s complete with a lush green yard, picnic benches, planter boxes, and a running track surrounding the yard. Several inmates were awarded Master Gardener certificates by the horticulture program, and plans were put in motion to construct a greenhouse to grow plants and seedlings year-round. The testimony to the difference the horticultural program and the greening of the yard have made in the inmates’ and MTC employees’ lives is revealed in these journal quotes:

“This community garden restores my serenity with each passing day”

“Planting, watering, growing my way back into society, so I can blossom and shine once again.”

Learn more about Metropolitan Transition Center (MTC)