LONGMONT, Colo. -- Despite no background in the fashion business, Jerry and Natalie Abshier, from Longmont, started a clothing line called CleanWear.

The project was inspired by their son, Josh Abshier, an artist who's in prison for drug-related crimes.

"I think he thought he always had to be high to be creative," said Natalie Abshier, Josh's stepmother. "And maybe the one good thing that prison has taught him is that his best artwork has been since he's been in prison."

The Abshiers' goal is to provide Josh a positive outlet for his artwork, and ultimately a career once he's released from prison in 2013.

"He needs to come out of this giving back to a society that he took from," Natalie Abshier said.

In 2009, Natalie decided to print a few T-shirts using designs drawn by Josh. Those few shirts soon turned into a few thousand as the Abshiers opened The Department Of Clothing, a boutique in downtown Longmont.

Word of the CleanWear project spread quickly. Now the Abshiers receive artwork from inmates, almost daily, from as far away as Oregon and West Virginia.

"We've taken a lot of the artwork and turned it into sellable prints," Natalie Abshier said.

The Abshiers made a commitment to help their son, but also to make a difference in their community; especially regarding drug abuse awareness. The family is donating a percentage of gross sales of T-shirts and artwork to community outreach programs, such as the Colorado Meth Project.

"Their example is a great one to follow for people who want to make a difference," said Kent MacLennan, executive director of the Colorado Meth Project. "[Meth] is so addictive and dangerous; we want to get the facts out there so that people and teens can make an educated decision about whether or not to try this."

In an email, Josh Abshier said, "I personally feel great knowing that the one thing I'm good at is being channeled into something so positive, and that alone is extremely self gratifying. The community needs people who have made it through to be a voice of reason for others, and I look forward to being one of those voices, and giving back to the community that I took so much from.