Local women's prison closes its doors

A local women's prison facility will soon be a distant memory. It was expected to be cut as part of the new state budget. Come September, it's doors will close. All that is left are mattresses and memories. "You have to mourn, it's the death of a facility, but a death of a family,” described Women’s Rehabilitation Facility Program Director Christina Dillon. A facility for female inmates, aimed to help transition them back into the community, will soon be closed. The prison housed about thirty inmates, most of who work in the Wilmington area. The facility feels more like living in a group home, than in a prison. "Its a big step for them when they get out of this place, it's scary for them,” said Dillon. “If they're not scared when they leave here, then something is wrong and the program didn't work." Most of the inmates from the Darlington facility have cleaned out their drawers, and emptied their closets, now they're in Rocky Mount at another facility, waiting to potentially be relocated again. The staff has already been reassigned to other facilities in the state, while the inmates transition back to life behind bars. Dillon hopes the inmates and staff members stay in touch, because to her, they were all family. "Stay out of trouble, and once you get out of prison, don't come back," advised Dillon. Staff will continue working in the facility until it closes for good in September.