Western Correctional Center for Women (formerly Swannanoa Correctional) Facility Mailing and Street Address: 55 Lake Eden Road, Black Mountain, NC 28711Phone: 828-259-6000County: BuncombeOffender Capacity: 366Facility Type: Female, Minimum Custody LIMITED VISITATION RESUMES OCT. 1, 2020 The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice will resume limited visitation at all state’s prisons effective Oct. 1, 2020 with significant restrictions due to the pandemic. Visitation was suspended in all state prisons on March 16, 2020, with the exception of legal and pastoral visits, to help prevent the potential spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). The health and safety of employees and offenders in our care are the top priorities of the Department of Public Safety. For information on coronavirus and how to protect yourself, please go the NC Department of Health and Human Services website. To learn what else Prisons is doing to combat coronavirus, click here. For more information on visitation, click here. Directions Take Interstate 40 to Exit 59 and turn right off the ramp on Patton Cove Road. Go to the traffic light and turn right onto US 70 East. At the next traffic light, turn left onto Whitson Avenue, cross the bridge and turn right at the stop sign onto Old US Hwy. 70. Follow Old US Hwy, 70 to the traffic light. Turn left onto Lake Eden Road. Turn left at the prison's facility sign onto the access road and turn left into the prison gate. Once through the gate, turn right into the parking lot. SENDING MAIL TO OFFENDERS To help keep contraband out of prisons, all mail to offenders must be sent through a private company, TextBehind. You must address mail to offenders in this way, or it will be returned: Offender Name and OPUS Number Prison Name P.O. Box 247 Phoenix, MD 21131 Examples: John Doe #1234567 Jane Doe #7654321 Polk Correctional Institution N.C. Correctional Institution for Women P.O. Box 247 P.O. Box 247 Phoenix, MD 21131 Phoenix, MD 21131 IMPORTANT: The return address (at the top left of the envelope) must contain both the full first name and the full last name of the sender. Do not use initials. TextBehind will return mail that does not provide the sender's full first and last names. The state’s prisons for women have been using TextBehind since February 2020. Here’s how it works: Offender mail is addressed and delivered to TextBehind. TextBehind will make digital copies of the contents. TextBehind will forward the digital files to the prison. The prison will print acceptable pages and deliver them to the offender. You may also download the TextBehind app to send mail by a smartphone or computer, avoiding paper mail sent via the U.S. Postal Service. Offenders will continue to receive all acceptable contents of the mail you send — letters, photos, cards, artwork, etc. For more information about TextBehind, including a short video, click here. Click here for Frequently Asked Questions. TextBehind will not accept packages or legal mail. For more information on sending packages or legal mail, see the FAQs. You can also contact the prison where the offender is currently assigned. All Prison facilities encourage family and friends to write to offenders. For security reasons, all incoming mail is checked to see if it contains any illegal or unauthorized items. Outgoing mail from offenders may also be checked. Personal letters will not be read unless the officer-in-charge or designee has reason to believe the letter contains threats of harm or criminal activity, escape plans or plans to violate prison rules. If the officer-in-charge decides to delay or not deliver the letter to the offender, the offender will be told in writing the reason for this action. Incoming mail from lawyers, any legal aid service assisting offenders, or state and federal court officials must be opened in the presence of the offender before it is checked for illegal or unauthorized items. For information regarding sending money to offenders, ordering packages for offenders or about the offender telephone system, please click the links. Overview Western Correctional Center for Women (formerly Swannanoa Correctional Center for Women) opened on July 7, 2008. Women previously housed at Black Mountain Correctional Center for Women were transferred to the former Swannanoa CCW on that date. Western CCW renovated four dormitories: Greenwood, Frye, Sloop and Gilliat. Renovations on the vocation building provided offenders with an educational classroom and an operating greenhouse. Renovations to the Buchanan building accommodated the increasing offender population and offer more educational classrooms and a medical wing. On Oct. 4, 2021, the facility's name was changed to Western Correctional Center for Women.
Western Correctional Center for Women (formerly Swannanoa Correctional) Facility Mailing and Street Address: 55 Lake Eden Road, Black Mountain, NC 28711Phone: 828-259-6000County: BuncombeOffender Capacity: 366Facility Type: Female, Minimum Custody LIMITED VISITATION RESUMES OCT. 1, 2020 The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice will resume limited visitation at all state’s prisons effective Oct. 1, 2020 with significant restrictions due to the pandemic. Visitation was suspended in all state prisons on March 16, 2020, with the exception of legal and pastoral visits, to help prevent the potential spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). The health and safety of employees and offenders in our care are the top priorities of the Department of Public Safety. For information on coronavirus and how to protect yourself, please go the NC Department of Health and Human Services website. To learn what else Prisons is doing to combat coronavirus, click here. For more information on visitation, click here. Directions Take Interstate 40 to Exit 59 and turn right off the ramp on Patton Cove Road. Go to the traffic light and turn right onto US 70 East. At the next traffic light, turn left onto Whitson Avenue, cross the bridge and turn right at the stop sign onto Old US Hwy. 70. Follow Old US Hwy, 70 to the traffic light. Turn left onto Lake Eden Road. Turn left at the prison's facility sign onto the access road and turn left into the prison gate. Once through the gate, turn right into the parking lot. SENDING MAIL TO OFFENDERS To help keep contraband out of prisons, all mail to offenders must be sent through a private company, TextBehind. You must address mail to offenders in this way, or it will be returned: Offender Name and OPUS Number Prison Name P.O. Box 247 Phoenix, MD 21131 Examples: John Doe #1234567 Jane Doe #7654321 Polk Correctional Institution N.C. Correctional Institution for Women P.O. Box 247 P.O. Box 247 Phoenix, MD 21131 Phoenix, MD 21131 IMPORTANT: The return address (at the top left of the envelope) must contain both the full first name and the full last name of the sender. Do not use initials. TextBehind will return mail that does not provide the sender's full first and last names. The state’s prisons for women have been using TextBehind since February 2020. Here’s how it works: Offender mail is addressed and delivered to TextBehind. TextBehind will make digital copies of the contents. TextBehind will forward the digital files to the prison. The prison will print acceptable pages and deliver them to the offender. You may also download the TextBehind app to send mail by a smartphone or computer, avoiding paper mail sent via the U.S. Postal Service. Offenders will continue to receive all acceptable contents of the mail you send — letters, photos, cards, artwork, etc. For more information about TextBehind, including a short video, click here. Click here for Frequently Asked Questions. TextBehind will not accept packages or legal mail. For more information on sending packages or legal mail, see the FAQs. You can also contact the prison where the offender is currently assigned. All Prison facilities encourage family and friends to write to offenders. For security reasons, all incoming mail is checked to see if it contains any illegal or unauthorized items. Outgoing mail from offenders may also be checked. Personal letters will not be read unless the officer-in-charge or designee has reason to believe the letter contains threats of harm or criminal activity, escape plans or plans to violate prison rules. If the officer-in-charge decides to delay or not deliver the letter to the offender, the offender will be told in writing the reason for this action. Incoming mail from lawyers, any legal aid service assisting offenders, or state and federal court officials must be opened in the presence of the offender before it is checked for illegal or unauthorized items. For information regarding sending money to offenders, ordering packages for offenders or about the offender telephone system, please click the links. Overview Western Correctional Center for Women (formerly Swannanoa Correctional Center for Women) opened on July 7, 2008. Women previously housed at Black Mountain Correctional Center for Women were transferred to the former Swannanoa CCW on that date. Western CCW renovated four dormitories: Greenwood, Frye, Sloop and Gilliat. Renovations on the vocation building provided offenders with an educational classroom and an operating greenhouse. Renovations to the Buchanan building accommodated the increasing offender population and offer more educational classrooms and a medical wing. On Oct. 4, 2021, the facility's name was changed to Western Correctional Center for Women.
