It is hard to imagine finding hope in a steel cargo container. But Shirlye Grandy sees life, fellowship and beauty in the metal box that sits on the Dix Park campus in Raleigh.
Grandy served nearly six years in the N.C. Correctional Institution for Women, but now holds the title of public arts project coordinator for Arise Collective, a Raleigh nonprofit dedicated to helping incarcerated women across the state.
Grandy told members of the N.C. Joint Reentry Council last week that her life was profoundly changed in 2019 when she joined a small group of women at NCCIW crocheting items to be donated and sold. The proceeds were used to help parents on the outside bring children to see those who were incarcerated…