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The feature below is brought to you by HOW Global, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. To learn more about HOW Global, please visit their website page: here.  Feel Beautiful Feel Safe: Disaster relief water projectsMost of us that live in the USA are living in environments where we are protected from severe weather and even natural disasters. We have storm shelters where we can wait out a storm or tornado warning, or we can run into a basement or hide with cover in a small space within our home that has a roof that is sturdy along a floor foundation below our feet. We can run to the grocery store and prepare for a storm by buying flashlights and candles and a supply of water either for before or after a storm that may knock out all our power. We see the outcry of those of us in the USA who may go without power for just a few days or maybe even a week. Even so it is hard for us to relate to those who live this way on an everyday basis and how devastating it is when they do not get help in times of emergency. What about those people who live in rural areas of poverty such as many of our projects in Africa, Haiti and now Puerto Rico? Once the media leaves the direct drama behind, there are millions left suffering and we lose touch with the fact that our global neighbors are suffering. As the founder of HOW Global I have witnessed locations in the world that every day look as if they have been hit by an earthquake or flood. There are no paved roads and huge rocks are just lying in the middle of what is supposed to be a highway. Cars trying to travel to these areas even on an everyday basis must have a 4-wheel drive to get to that location. Their normal way of life is without water, enough food or electric. So, just imagine life when a conflict or disaster takes place. The people in these places of poverty that have no government support are alone without a voice. My heart bleeds especially for the women and children who are the village workers who carry the water, seek out wood for a fire to provide light by burning. Water is already scarce but after a disaster such as an earthquake or hurricane there is none to be found. Most are without transportation to go and seek emergency supplies. A recent case of one of our school partners in Haiti was that the country was in conflict for a full 3 months. All schools were closed. People were told to stay inside their homes but in this case, their homes are without electric, meaning no lights, no water or food or way to escape. How do you escape conflict and danger if you are a family of 5 with school children and no transportation? How do you provide for your family with the basic needed to just stay alive? It is a very dangerous and frightening situation. Imagine how a child must feel during this time period.  When HOW Global was founded in 2006, one of our main goals was to make our partner water well schools become places that could be used for disaster relief purposes. I am so proud that SEE BEAUTIFUL has helped make us successful. Our schools should be placed to go for water, electric where cots could be set up and an actual roof and floor are a part of that building where you are seeking refuge. Our partner schools that we call Green Hubs in some cases, have ground issues that does not allow us to drill at all. In this type of situation, we put up roof gutters and very large water holding tanks. In the case of Haiti this was a lifesaver to have water that had filled the tank just a week before the country shut down. Once the violence stopped and the holding tank was empty, we were able to hire a truck to refill it until the next rainfall. It is amazing to think that first batch of water was distributed to the whole community in this urgent time of need.  Our goal for 2020 is to improve our school partner hubs ability to become that place that can distribute water and provide information and means of allowing that community to recover after the disaster. We are so lucky to have on the ground leaders who can communicate with us in times of urgent need and we can count on where our supplies and donations are going. Adding more solar panels and solar pumps to the already lifesaving Green Hubs can save lives in times of emergency. Starting a new one in Puerto Rico will be a great milestone for us. With climate change taking a horrific effect on our planet, more and more disasters are being witnessed and experienced worldwide. Because of this, we wish to address the goal of safety in our year’s plan to bring solar and emergency water supply set ups to our hubs. When I spoke to the school children in Haiti and the teachers about this idea via Facebook, they were excited to know and understand that their school will help many. They posed for a photo pretending they are looking through binoculars so that they can show you their ability to SEE BEAUTIFUL and see HOPE. Submitted by Rachael PaulsonExecutive Director, HOW Global
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The feature below is brought to you by InterAction Initiative Inc, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. To learn more about InterAction Initiative Inc, please visit their website page: here.  Remembering Our Beauty Through Our CounternarrativesBeauty is a contentious word for many, especially those of us at the margins. Growing up as a young Black woman, I quickly noticed the ways ‘beauty’ was weaponized to devalue my truth and identity. Comments like ‘pretty for a Black girl’ or ‘your hair is too nappy’ always served to remind me that Black was not beautiful. In school, the “beauty” of Black history was limited to a few exceptional stories of Black heroes who overcame insurmountable odds to earn a meager paragraph/sentences within our history textbooks. The rest of American history framed Black and Brown existence as woefully inferior, oppressed, and subjugated For young Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Asian folks growing up in the United States, the stories of beauty we consume in the media are either entirely white, aspiring to whiteness or solely white-washed. These stories that surround us, from our textbooks to media to school curriculum, are all impacted by dominant narratives in our society and can have harmful impacts on our identity development and mental health. In April 2015, the Executive Alliance for Boys and Men of Color, a national alliance challenging racial hierarchy and its impact on boys and men of color, created “His Story: Shift in Narratives for Boys & Men of Color.” The toolkit addresses how the Executive Alliance could not “advance racial justice, or simply the interests of boys and men of color, without addressing the narratives that surround them.” The toolkit outlines how dominant narratives, a system of stories that are repeated through history, media and culture that perpetuate stereotypes, discrimination, and violence, has a harmful impact on boys of color, and to further add, girls, gender nonconforming, trans and nonbinary young people of color. As co-founders of InterAction Initiative Inc. and Young People of Color ourselves, we have seen this phenomena throughout work and personal lives. The external effects of dominant narratives manifest through (implicit or explicit) biases that influence how teachers treat Black and Brown children. In South Bend, IN alone, the city where we began our work, Black youth are suspended at three times the rate of white students, yet they make up less than 1/3rd of the population. From such a young age, people of color are educated in a ‘color-blind’ system that treats them as inferior (Childers-McKee and Hytten, 2015). Further, dominant narratives fuel the hatred that leads to mass shootings, policies and practices that contribute to police brutality, and mass incarceration. In fact, dominant narratives are so embedded in our culture that they are barriers to creatively imagining alternative structures and new ideas for the world we want to live in. Dominant narratives can also “trigger or be reinforced by internalized negative self-perceptions among community members.” In other words, dominant narratives are not only forced upon us, but reinforced by us and those among us: It impacts how we see ourselves, identities, worth, and potential. How can Black, Brown, Indigenous, and POC youth feel beautiful and know the beauty within themselves and their communities, when dominant narratives have the power to dictate much of our lives? InterAction challenges dominant narratives that deter Young People of Color from realizing their full selves within schools and communities. At InterAction, we build YPOC to resist, heal, and grow by centering the development of their own counter-narratives as a critical tool for advancing racial justice, inside and out. We activate and advance Young People of Color and their counter-narratives to build a more just, inclusive and equitable society. Counter-narratives are one of the many ways people on the margins express their lived experiences. In racial justice work, counter-narratives are powerful because they shed light on the ways in which systems of oppression and injustice manifest in everyday lives. Counter-narratives are beautiful because they help us recognize the power and agency that already exists within us. At InterAction, we have a history of creatively engaging YPOC to foster empathy, become inspiring racial justice leaders, and be grounded in our collective history. We at InterAction create beauty by providing YPOC space to reconstruct their narratives, reclaim their future, and reimagine a new vision for our world. We create beauty in providing YPOC the tools and resources to inspire and create change in their communities so that all may flourish. We create beauty everyday as a team when we dare to exist as our full selves as women of color. I co-founded InterAction because I felt a desire to know my own beauty, history and identity. This work has been a long journey of unlearning and remembering who I am, my own counter-narrative. What’s Next for us at InterAction? Our new initiative, the InterAction YPOC Summer Institute, will launch in the Summer of 2020. The Summer Institute will be a 5 day intimate gathering for a cohort of 12 young activists of color who identify as Black, Indigenous or People of Color ages 18-24 from the Midwest (particularly South Bend and Chicagoland areas). The Summer Institute’s purpose is to cultivate the next generation of YPOC racial justice leaders, thinkers, and storytellers. The Institute will be a space for them to build their capacity to thrive by engaging them in a comprehensive experience that focuses on developing their counter-narratives as a method to affirm their intersectional identities, providing strategies to care for themselves and their communities, and learn how they can use their counter-narratives to affect change in their communities. So many of us who experience life on the margins only wish an opportunity like this existed when we were growing up. I created something that I wished I had growing up. With support from the See Beautiful Foundation, we will be able to launch our first Institute, where YPOC will have the space to connect with their counter-narratives to heal and grow from the inside and out. Submitted by: Deandra CadetExecutive Director and Co-Founder The feature below is brought to you by Re’Generation Movement, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. To learn more about Re’Generation Movement, please visit their website page: here.  Re’Generation Movement: Seeing the Beautiful in the Global DiasporasDiaspora (noun): the movement, migration or scattering of a people away from an established or ancestral homeland. (source: Merriam-Webster) “Diaspora” is a word of pain: a word of longing that comes from losing a sense of belonging. Throughout history, many people groups have left their homelands and became strangers in foreign lands for many different reasons, mostly due to unfavorable or even hostile and life-threatening circumstances. We, diasporas, settle down, form our communities, and learn to adapt to a new home away from home. However, the longing for the home we left behind does not weaken but becomes stronger as time goes. We also struggle to define our identity and the confusion of where we belong intensifies with posterity. However, because of this very nature, “diaspora” also becomes a word of hope and innovation. The sense of belonging is not lost, but redefined. Instead of calling one place home, we learn to call many different places our homes. Instead of wavering between cultures that are different at home and at school, we learn to embrace (or at least cope with) both cultures. Instead of being put into a choice of loving the nation of origin or the nation of settlement, we learn to love both and reflect on what it truly means to be a global citizen. Like Susan Ahn Cuddy who fought against Japan as the first female gunnery officer of the U.S. Navy while her father dedicated his life fighting against Japanese imperialism as a leader of the Provisional Government of Korea, we find ways to reconcile our roots to our present soil. We cannot be put in a box. It sometimes gets even messy. We don’t even know how to come up with a simple answer when someone asks, “where are you from?” And that is perfectly okay. In fact, that is why diasporas are perfectly set up to be peacemakers in today’s evermore diversifying and pluralizing world because peacemaking is the ability to jump in and out of different boxes and building bridges between those boxes. So many conflicts arise because we want to stay in our little boxes and refuse to step out of them. Re’Generation Movement’s aim is to empower these global diasporas to be the peacemakers in today’s world. We strive to do this by: 1) Empowering Youth through Education: through equipping the diaspora youths with not only practical skillsets through SAT and college-prep courses but also values through programs such as Glocal Leadership courses, field-trip to Washington D.C., etc. 2) Creating Space for Conversations: through hosting events, seminars, lectures, and study groups where different opinions and thoughts can be exchanged in a safe space. 3) Advocating for Peace: through finding our roles as diasporas to engage in activities that can bring peace and justice. To the world that is scared to see too many differences, we want them to know that differences can create harmony when conducted in the right way and when each part listens, respects, and enjoys in collaboration. The more the variety, the merrier the sound of harmony. With hearts that can feel the pain on the other side of the world as vividly and tangibly as the pain here, with fluidity that can understand and adapt to different cultural contexts, and with a genuine longing for a safe belonging for self and those around the globe, I believe in seeing the beautiful things blooming from the Re’Generats that will regenerate this world to be a more welcoming, more harmonious, and more equitable place. Submitted by Jongdae KimExecutive Director / Co-Founder, Re'Generation Movement The feature below is brought to you by the HIVE, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. To learn more about the HIVE, please visit their website page: here.  Rebooting the system for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities Helen Keller once said that the best and most beautiful things in the world must be felt in the heart, and one example of this is the community and learning center at HIVE, Inc. “The HIVE” exists to break down barriers and erase stereotypes for teens and adults with disabilities in South Central Kentucky, offering unique opportunities for teens and adults to make informed choices, build relationships, experience respect, and be contributing members of their communities. What’s more beautiful than that?! The philosophy behind the HIVE is unique...The HIVE is not an adult daycare, and we do not bill insurance or state waiver funds for services. This is to ensure that our programming is available to ANYONE with a disability, regardless of insurance type, waiver status, or other socioeconomic factors. This is particularly important because many state waiver services and government programs/funding are exhausted or have long “wait lists” and there are few options available for continuing education or social connections beyond high school for adults with disabilities. 63% of people with disabilities will not enroll in post-secondary education due to barriers like accessibility and lack of teacher training. This lack of services and resources leaves individuals with disabilities and their families isolated and without support needed for future success. Our members can use existing support persons (Community Living Support workers, therapists, case management, family caregiver, etc.) to participate in activities. We emphasize peer-led programming, with classes often taught by college students, and encourage HIVE members to teach others the skills they’ve mastered. We believe that having people with whom you are truly connected and a place to belong is key to success in life! At the HIVE, teens and adults who have intellectual, physical, or developmental disabilities can participate in a variety of activities on a daily, weekly and monthly basis to develop skills related to habilitation, advocacy, information/networking, volunteerism and vocation, continuing education, developing and maintaining friendships and natural supports, and exploring hobbies and interests. Program participants have unique opportunities at the HIVE that include classes like yoga, music, and art; workshops on Disability Rights and Avoiding Abuse & Exploitation, learning vocational skills “hands-on” through our vending machine business, and participating in coordinated, adapted volunteer opportunities. In addition, HIVE members can take part in a special program to learn about advocacy and environmental education! Through our environmental education and advocacy program, teens and adults with disabilities learn advocacy skills and then go to local schools, businesses and other organizations to teach people about the impact of honeybees on the environment. Through this program, participants learn skills needed to advocate for themselves and bees (professional communication, public speaking, using technology, etc). The schools, businesses and organizations that participate in the program receive environmental education, complete an activity that helps the environment (i.e. gardening, building bee houses, discontinuing pesticide use, recycling, etc.) and simultaneously learn disability etiquette...that people who have disabilities are able to contribute to the community and deserve the same opportunities as any other person! Currently, the HIVE serves approximately 80 individuals and their families, 6 professional service provider agencies, and 6 school systems across 5 counties in Kentucky. Through community partnerships and advocacy programming, we are reaching approximately 200 people per month. We envision a barrier-free community in which all individuals may live, work, and enjoy access to limitless opportunities as valued citizens, and we are working to make that a beautiful reality for the people we serve! Want to See Beautiful? Check out the opportunities given at the HIVE that allow strong, inspiring people to lead fulfilling, beautiful lives. You can catch a glimpse at http://thehivebg.org, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/thehivebg, or Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/h.i.v.e.inc. Submitted by Jessica WilsonProgram Director, the HIVE The feature below is brought to you by Community Bucket, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. To learn more about Community Bucket, please visit their website page: here.  Service made social.Community Bucket was started on a humid August day in 2012. We looked around at the vibrant, socially conscious community of doers and activists committed to making our city of Atlanta beautiful and wondered “how do we get involved?” Atlanta, our original hometown, has countless wonderful organizations striving towards strengthening the local community. It also has many more transplants from all over the world searching for a way to meet new people and leave their mark on their new home. That’s why we created the Service Made Social movement—a way for volunteers to participate in a rewarding service experience that allows them to forge new friendships, make meaningful connections, and improve their local community — all within a few hours. Here at Community Bucket, we focus on the "social" side of our program by connecting volunteers from all backgrounds and backstories to the nonprofits and organizations best suited to their goals. Our volunteers find a community and a connection to the place they call home. And as our volunteers flourish, so does our community. Watching as everyone benefits through the weave of good deeds, fun memories and lasting relationships is truly beautiful in our eyes. Community Bucket has brought the concept of Service Made Social to thriving communities in Atlanta, Austin, Denver, and New York City. Our volunteers add much-needed manpower to food banks, soup kitchens, urban gardens and much more. These men and women bring an infectious energy and welcoming spirit to every project we create. Volunteers are always looking for more ways to connect to the non-profit ecosystem in their communities. This is the niche that Community Bucket fills. This year in Atlanta, we are partnering with four urban farms for a new and exciting project called FeedATL. Our goal is to leverage our volunteer base to alleviate the effects of food deserts in the local community on a larger scale than ever before. Metro Atlanta is home to many community farms and gardens, but they are often understaffed and under-marketed in their neighborhoods. Our volunteers will log a total of 1,000 manpower hours over the course of 2020 through on-site projects that will be invaluable to our partner farms. In addition, we will help execute several community-based social events to help connect the farms to the individuals we serve. Community Bucket as a whole will promote these events and create enduring promotional materials that these vital members of the Metro Atlanta community can use to develop their own volunteer programs for the future. We are beyond excited about FeedATL and every single project we are gearing up for this year. At its core, Service Made Social is a commitment to the beauty within every individual we meet: We find beauty in the volunteer who almost hits the snooze button on a rainy Saturday morning, but decides to serve with us instead. We find beauty in the deeper, meaningful conversations and connections forged during our events. We find beauty in people helping others. With the efforts of many, we can all continue building a more beautiful community. And we invite you to join in on the fun! If you share our vision of beauty, we would love to hear from you. You can learn more at www.communitybucket.com or email us at [email protected]. Submitted by Jesse GrossmanWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. The feature below is brought to you by Global Seed Savers, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. To learn more about Global Seed Savers, please visit their website page: here.  Building Resilience in the Face of Climate RealitiesThe Philippines was recently named the most climate vulnerable nation in the world. Containing over 7,000 islands the dramatic and ever growing impact of climate change is palpable and only increasing in strength and unpredictability. In fact, in the last three months there have been three typhoons, two earthquakes, and most recently (Jan. 12th) the devastating eruption of Taal Volcano in the Philippines. While none of our partner farmers were directly impacted by these recent calamities they have been before and it is essential that they continue to be prepared to face these realities. Our programming and capacity building ensures their on-going preparedness and ability to “See Beautiful” and remain resilient amidst the ever changing climate realities of their country. At Global Seed Savers (GSS) we believe the work and models being developed in the Philippines are of the utmost importance. When it comes to climate change and the power of resilient seed propagation, the Philippines can be considered as the proverbial “canary in the coal mine”. The ability to impact the agricultural system where global agribusiness has a strong foothold and climate change continues to create larger and more catastrophic natural disasters is paramount. GSS is innovative in our audacity to stand up to the industrial agriculture system through empowering smallholder farmers in the Philippines to return to the indigenous practice of growing and saving their own seeds. Providing smallholder farmers with the tools and support needed to relinquish any dependence on large bio-chemical agricultural companies restores sovereignty over their food supply and improves quality of life. Since 2015, we have trained over 5,000 farmers in Seed Saving, helped directly establish 2 seed libraries and influenced the creation of two others that are locally led, and are building a nationwide movement across the Philippines to restore food and seed sovereignty. We focus on sovereignty... not simply food security... because we believe that sovereignty prioritizes farmers rights and voice in making choices about what, when, and how they produce and, to whom they sell these crops. The term food sovereignty was coined by La Via Campesina in 1996, defined as: “ The right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.” If food security is about the consumer, food sovereignty puts the focus on the importance of the producers and insists on their democratic rights in decision making. Small-holder farmers produce 70% of the food consumed worldwide on only 25% of the arable land. Food sovereignty also recognizes food as a right and a public good, not as a commodity, and food production is about relationships between community and with nature, not trade and commerce. This concept of sovereignty guides all we do at Global Seed Savers and is a driving force for us wanting to ensure our field staff and farmers are equipped with the proper disaster preparedness and first aid training needed to respond to the next natural disaster. Access to locally adapted, locally produced seeds provide one critical layer of resilience but rural farmers also need access to proper training so they know how to respond in the field to the next disaster, because sadly it is not a matter of if...but when the next will hit! The majority of our partner farmers live in rural communities and are the ones most impacted when calamities occur. Our model helps up-lift Filipino Farmers and ensures that their voices are heard and the ones driving the direction of their community. While farmers are, in our opinion, some of the most important people in the community (they produce sustenance) they are often the ones left with the least voice. Through our Teacher Training Program, farmers gain the skills and confidence they need to teach their peers about the importance of saving seeds. Many of our farmers have not even graduated high school, but through our program they are learning their value and able to share these lessons with a wide diversity of people. GSS is helping farmers rise to an equitable place in society by becoming the leaders of their communities. Through producing food and seed and by sharing these lessons with their community. The ability to equip farmers with proper climate resilience training will only continue to embolden their critical role and confidence as rural community leaders. To learn more about Global Seed Savers and join our movement please visit us at: www.globalseedsavers.org Submitted by: Sherry ManningFounder and Executive Director Global Seed Savers The feature below is brought to you by Carolina Dance Collaborative, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. To learn more about Carolina Dance Collaborative, please visit their website page: here.  The Carolina Dance Collaborative is a mobile dance outreach organization with an extensive dance education curriculum that incorporates individual creativity, healthy living, and developing life-skills to reach all populations and demographics in Greenville County and the Upstate, South Carolina. We see beautiful each and everyday when we have the privilege of working with children in underserved communities, senior citizens, disability organizations, schools, and community centers. We travel to their space and help participants develop healthy life-skills that will impact them beyond the dance classroom and into their homes and everyday lives. CDC is making the Upstate of South Carolina more beautiful through giving all people access to dance education regardless of location, ability, and resources. Dance is an art form that uses the beauty of the body and movement to communicate with both the soul and the outside world. We believe that every individual should experience and embody the life changing power of dance. Beauty is found in the students that we serve, in their differences and ability to come together as a supportive group to create peer to peer relationships. Each student's background, their body shape & color, their creativity, and their personalities make our students beautiful and are to be celebrated. Our organization's concentration on reaching diverse populations through the arts goes beyond the individual and into the community we serve. We value collaboration, empowerment, and equity in our classrooms and believe that each child has value and importance in our sessions. CDC's programs range from working with small pre-schoolers to older adults. Each program differs from the other in terms of length of time, curriculum, location, and population served. We specifically want to bring attention to one of our after-school programs that work with under-served youth. Each and every one of these kids are beautiful in their own way. They may come from difficult circumstances and their resources may be sparse, but their ability to experience movement and dance education is just as real as the child that comes from an affluent family background. We partner with a variety of organizations and this particular program is in collaboration with the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Greenville, South Carolina. The Creative Arts Academy is a free weekly youth ministry for K-12th grade where students get homework help, learn and practice character development (life skills, family, faith, & personal development), participate in art electives and are fed dinner. Our organization partners with the Arts Academy to bring dance education to the students involved. When these students enter our classroom they are typically experiencing a structured dance class for the first time, as we normally serve the elementary aged students at this location. The program ends with a performance bringing all the electives together for a large musical where all the art forms share their experiences and parents get to watch the power of their child unfold. We see beautiful in how these under-resourced students are impacted through developing them as learners and leaders in a sustainable program focused on the performative art of dance. The project connects learning and creativity to promote physical and social emotional wellbeing for the youth directly involved and the families surrounding them. Beautiful is all around us, although CDC sees beautiful in the simple movements, in the creativity of our students, in the relationships and community formed in our classrooms, and lastly in the growth and self esteem that emanates from our students after they perform in front of an audience. We value each beautiful body and soul in our classroom and find that their beauty in their differences make them unique and worth celebrating. Submitted by Kelsey CrumExecutive Director, Carolina Dance Collaborative The feature below is brought to you by Peace of Thread, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. To learn more about Peace of Thread, please visit their website page: here.  Peace of Thread: Seeing BeautifulSometimes it seems like we are surrounded by ugliness. Every time we turn on our phones, TVs, or tablets we are bombarded by news of hate and anger. Violence and disaster. Grief and despair. Unfortunately, no one has a better understanding of the world’s ugliness than refugees. They live at the center of the conflict, poverty, and natural disasters that mar our screens. And when they come to countries like the United States for refuge, they are demonized as villains or pitied as victims. At Peace of Thread, a non-profit based in Clarkston, Georgia (with a branch starting in Chattanooga, TN) we don’t see refugee women as either villains or victims. We see them as the beautiful individuals they are. That’s why our mission is to empower refugee women to become economically independent through the making and selling of artisan purses. When a refugee woman earns her own income (an experience she may never have had before) by selling something she made with her own hands, she can see the beauty of her own talent and her own unique story. As she gains more skills, she also gains more confidence. Her face shines. One of our seamstresses who came to the U.S. in 2003 is now training other seamstresses by herself. In 2016, she told a local reporter, “When I came here, I was scared. Now I am strong.” That is the statement of a beautiful woman. Beauty is not just found in handbags and bank accounts. It’s also found in the friendships built across different countries and cultures. Peace of Thread brings women from the East together with women from the West. American women work alongside the refugees, designing purses while the seamstresses work on their machines. We visit each other in our homes and have cultural exchanges. Such friendships have their challenges, but the bonds forged are particularly strong. For example, when one of our seamstresses was in the hospital with pneumonia, her American friends prayed for her and anointed her with oil. She woke up and squeezed our CEO’s hand. Sometimes we can see beauty just by being together through the hard times. These strong cross-cultural friendships have educational as well as emotional value. Women from places like Iraq or Myanmar learn a lot of English when they spend time with American women. Their new language skills enable them to share their stories and express their new-found confidence in their own words. Now people who listen to our seamstresses can hear the beauty in their words as well as see the beauty in the smiles on their faces. If you come to our headquarters in Clarkston, you’ll see masses of fabric piled on shelves and scattered across tables. Many days, it looks like a mess. But our artisans turn this mess into gorgeous purses, wallets, baby bags, glasses cases, and other accessories. In the same way, Peace of Thread makes beauty out of chaos. Each of our unique products is designed from the inside-out because true beauty is found on the inside first. When you buy a Peace of Thread Product, you are sustaining a partnership, not just a charity. Together, we can make the world just a little bit more beautiful. You can find us at: www.peaceofthread.com https://www.facebook.com/PeaceOfThread/ https://www.instagram.com/peaceofthreadbags/ Submitted by Angela Sauve'Volunteer, Peace of Thread The feature below is brought to you by Authentic Creations Publishing Apothecary, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. To learn more about Authentic Creations Publishing Apothecary, please visit their website page: here.  Spreading the wisdom of seedsAt Authentic Creations Publishing Apothecary our mission is to spread the wisdom of Seeds through tending the wounds of People Of Heritage (Of Colour) and their land with our programs since 2011. Our vision is to bring People Of Heritage back into harmony with the Planet through our relationships to Self, our Ancestry, Nature and each other. We seek to increase and sustain accessible wellness services and education to People Of Heritage in ‘Colorado’ with our nature based lifestyles approach, adapted from Indigenous cultures, which promotes leadership, respect, accountability, regenerative mutual aide, creativity, and cultural revitalization. The creation and evolution of these offerings is by direct community requests gathered from surveys, registration and feedback forms. Through such initiatives as artistic writing, Seed stewardship, affinity gatherings, cultural celebrations, indigenous foods, theatre, liberation art, printmaking zines we aim to assist our underrepresented community in sovereign-self-realization. Over the last decade, our focus is trauma informed care, therapeutic techniques, cultural significance, intersectional diversity, and play. Our zero waste grassroots organization affirms, networks, advocates for and shares knowledge with our marginalized population. Our four main BY US, FOR US program types are: 1) Theatre and Writing: Theatre Therapy specializes in peaceful plays. These utopic vignettes depict the triumphs of our marginalized communities, and ways to show up as our Allies. We specialize in the playmaking style of LaMama spirit a cross-pollination of performance art, music, songs, playwriting, poetry, imagery/visuals and dance. In addition, we make educational literature and illustrations and distribute to our participants in zine form. 2) Affinity Gatherings: These events intend to close the grabs between us and our heritage, affirm our identities, while creating space for lasting relationships, ancestral tending, and spirituality. 3) Seed Initiatives: Rematriation: We educate about, distribute and return Ancestral Seeds; bringing together again Indigenous folks, Native Seeds and wild lands. Seed Stewardship: Specifically culturally relevant Seeds, the stories they hold and literature on how to save your own seeds, how to fold your own seed packets, phytoremediation, Seed patents, botanical anatomy, regional publications, and growing conditions. Events additionally feature health care services and indigenous foods. Sovereignty Care Packs: get sent out for Indigenous Solidarity, Disaster Relief and regenerative mutual aid efforts in connection with our West African Seed Lending Library. 4) Multi-Cultural Center and Garden: In 2020 we hope to centralize our long-term peace efforts with a permanent location. We are one of the few gardens in our area focusing on multi-cultural rematriation and home to a West African Seed Lending Library. While every offering is unique most have workshops, indigenous foods, health care services, Ancestral Seeds, play space, music and child/elder/disability care. Some focus on social movements and/or environmental justice work while reflecting the beauty of our communities. To learn more about us and the beautiful work we do visit ArtisticApothecary.wordpress.com Submitted by Kuwa Jasiri IndomelaFounding Member of Authentic Creations The feature below is brought to you by Blueprint 58, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. To learn more about Blueprint 58, please visit their website page: here.  Renewing communities through mentorshipBlueprint 58 is a community based mentoring program in southwest Atlanta. We are unique in our approach to community development, focusing on both fostering mentoring relationships through the local school, and establishing a healthy and positive presence in the neighborhood. Deeply rooted in Isaiah 58, we believe that mutually transforming relationships can rebuild and renew entire communities. We believe that lasting relationships with our neighbors are the only context for community change. Our vision is to empower youth to grow into community leaders, and that they might then transform a neighborhood from the inside out rather than the outside in. We accomplish this through mentoring, sports, and personal development programming in the Pittsburgh and Adair Park communities in Atlanta. Here at Blueprint 58, we see beauty a bit differently. Normally beauty is defined by something that is aesthetically pleasing to the eye. However, for us beauty is seen far beyond the surface. Our community does not always seem beautiful if only looking at the exterior. There are crumbling streets, abandoned homes, and buildings in disrepair. But if you move beyond the surface, you will find vibrant culture, passionate residents, and a beautiful community of neighbors who care for each other. At Blueprint 58, we are constantly learning how to show up for people. We have learned that the best way to build lasting and trusting relationships is by simply walking alongside our neighbors in their struggles and triumphs, as well as in our own. Being vulnerable and walking with our neighbors may be hard, but while we provide a shoulder to lean on, they provide a hand to hold. And that is the beauty of community. Sharing the burden of each other’s pains and celebrating each other’s achievements. Through the relationships we have formed, we have met some exceptional people and seen such beauty and strength in our community. We do not believe that we are here to create more beauty, but rather to be a spark, with the hope that relationships can encourage and empower the beautiful assets that already reside in the community. Blueprint 58 was built on the foundation that relationships change lives and consistently showing up for people matters. The best way that we know how to develop relationships in our community is through mentoring. Mentoring is at the heart of what we do. Here at Blueprint 58, we take on a different definition of mentoring; we believe that both our students and mentors have much to learn from each other. Mentoring for Blueprint 58 is about sparking mutually transformational relationships in the hopes that our mentors and students learn and grow together. This year, we have the opportunity to match an entire fourth grade class with mentors. While this endeavor seems daunting, we are so excited about the idea of fostering 40 new relationships. 40 new students and mentors will have the opportunity to make a lasting relationship built on trust, and learn first hand how important it is to simply show up for each other. We hope that one day our beautiful community of neighbors will then be a spark to other communities and spread the importance of intentionality, relationship, and trust. What could be more beautiful than neighbors around the country showing up for each other? We hope that you will join in the movement to love and listen to your neighbor. If you are interested in learning more about our mentoring program, please visit our website at www.blueprint58.org or contact our Mentor Coordinator at [email protected]. Submitted by Rebecca StanleyExecutive Director, Blueprint 58 |
See beautiful in yourself.
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