They are the people who go where many others in our community do not.

About 200 volunteers took time out today to get training in order to go behind bars at the Greene County Jail.

Inmates are offered a variety of programs like art classes, GED programs, even bible study in hopes of streamlining them back into civilization if and when they are released.

The Sheriff's Department does not have a budget for those efforts, so Greene County goes to volunteers to do that work.

Greene County Sheriff Jack Merritt says, "this is a tremendous experience for them to realize what goes on in the jail, what the officers put up with in the jail. It gives them an idea of the dark side of our community that 90% of the people in our community don't see or know about."

Inmates we spoke to say the programs offered by volunteers help keep them from becoming institutionalized and breaks the cycle of crime.