When members of Hawthorne Community Association in Raymond decided the boyhood home of Nathaniel Hawthorne needed a new paint job, they enlisted the help of a group of inmates from the Windham Correctional Center.

Jim Quinn, correctional trades instructor at the prison, has been bringing a group of minimum security inmates to Raymond to give the house a new coat of white paint. Inmates had worked for about a week, and were getting close to completion earlier this week.

In addition to Raymond, Quinn said that inmates have done work for nonprofit organizations in Casco, Naples, Windham and Gorham. Jobs have included roofing, carpentry, landscaping, painting and clean-up.

Inmates leave for jobs at 8 a.m. and must be back in the afternoon. They work about seven hours on a typical day, and Quinn said inmates welcome the chance to get out and work in the community.

“That’s all they get out of it. They don’t get paid,” said Quinn.

The Hawthorne House is important to residents of the town of Raymond, and many neighbors in the area are part of the Hawthorne Community Association. Cinda Roy, president of the association, said the organization’s main goal is to “preserve the house for gatherings of the community.”

“We usually try to tackle one project a year,” said Roy.

Roy said that the association and nearby residents are happy to have help from inmates, even given their criminal backgrounds.

“It integrates them back into society…it teaches community service, giving back to the community,” said Roy.

Although most residents do not take issue with having inmates working in their communities, a representative from the superintendent’s office at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham, said that once in a while, they do receive calls from concerned residents.

“Usually they’re not familiar with the program,” the representative said.

The representative also said that when they do receive such calls, they calm any fears by sending a staff member out to check up on the inmates. Also, Jim Quinn and other supervisors like him are trained in security and have a radio on hand if they need assistance.

These inmates are what the representative called “the best of the worst”, that is, minimum security prisoners who have stellar behavior records and good work ethics within the dorms. No sex offenders or violent criminals are allowed out on jobs.

“Most of (the inmates) just really want to do their time as best they can and with as many privileges as they can…90 percent of them will never screw that up,” said the representative.

In addition to help from inmates, Sherwin Williams of Windham also donated $500 worth of painting materials for the job.