Southern Oregon Goodwill's massive donation of tops, bottoms, sweatshirts, coats and shoes to the Jackson County Jail will ensure that inmates will have access to weather-appropriate clothing when they are released from jail.

Owing to the combined efforts of Jackson County Jail staff and Southern Oregon Goodwill, inmates who were arrested without the right clothes for the weather — if they were wearing any clothes at all — are now certain to be released from jail warmly dressed.

Corrections Sgt. Gary Clark said that when he reached out to Southern Oregon Goodwill in October for unsold clothes to give to inmates booked into the jail without warm clothing, the jail got far more than it bargained for.

“The folks at Goodwill saw the value in that, and they stepped up in a big way,” Clark said.

Specifically the local nonprofit gave the jail a roughly 64-cubic-foot box full of men’s and women’s clothing on Nov. 15.

“I was like just like ‘holy smokes,’” Clark said, describing his surprise at the first donation.

The box, filled with men’s tops and bottoms, shoes, sweatshirts and coats could barely fit in the back of a pickup bed.

“Some are almost nicer coats you’d wear for a job interview,” Clark said. “Definitely stuff that will keep people warm.”

Two similar-sized donations in 4-foot-by-4-foot boxes have since followed, according to Clark and Southern Oregon Goodwill operations director Johanna Brewer.

“We were really happy to be able to help with that,” Brewer said. In a follow-up email, she added that Southern Oregon Goodwill “saw this as an opportunity to support our community.”

Although the response was quick, Clark said that the inspiration for the program goes back years. It started when he’d see a former county medical examiner stock up on socks every Black Friday.

Clark will mark 24 years at the jail in January. He said he’s seen a rise in inmates needing clothing upon release, particularly in the 2020s.

“It’s becoming more common,” Clark said. “It’s amazing how many times people are arrested with no clothes.”

Sometimes it’s because an inmate was arrested after being medically cleared, meaning that police booked the inmate into jail when they were wearing a hospital gown. Other times an inmate — for reasons ranging from substance abuse to a mental health crisis — will be arrested wearing little if anything at all.

Other times, particularly with homeless inmates, their clothes simply aren’t suitable.

“Homeless folks, their shoes are falling apart,” Clark said. “They’re really not even usable.”

Prior to the partnership with Goodwill, the jail for years kept a lost-and-found area built from garments that other inmates left behind. Staff at the jail added to that pile with their own clothing donations.

Other ways they worked to combat the issue included timing releases for the middle of the day, when temperatures are warmest and services are open, and allowing released inmates to leave with jail-issued underwear, T-shirts or worn jail uniform footwear. Clark said the Goodwill donation was a group effort, and he praised their work to ensure inmates have weather-appropriate clothes on their backs.

“There are people in the jail who have compassion and commitment to the community,” Clark said.

Bringing in the massive donation didn’t require a trip through the X-ray, but Clark said he combed through the pockets of the donated garments and checked for metal as a security precaution.

“I think I found 36 cents,” Clark said.

According to Clark and Brewer at Southern Oregon Goodwill, the nonprofit saw an influx of people requesting to donate clothes directly to the jail. Goodwill is not currently taking more donations solely for inmates who are released.

“They’re running out of space to store them,” Brewer said.

Clark said the third box Goodwill donated to the jail is sitting in storage, and he plans to bring it into the jail at the end of January. He knows that more clothes for inmates are just a phone call away.

“I’ll reach out to her when we get pretty low,” Clark said.