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The feature below is brought to you by Little Lambs Foundation for Kids, 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 Little Lambs Foundation for Kids, please visit their website page: here. Creating beautiful through opportunities for kidsSchool starts in late August here in Utah and for thousands of children in our community that comes with a lot of stress and anxiety especially this year with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic affecting many households throughout our community. Due to many businesses having to shut their doors this spring employers have had to lay off employees, reduce their hours or have had to let employees go. With these new economic challenges families who may have never needed outside help are having to ask Little Lambs for assistance in providing school supplies for their children. In Logan city we have a 25.4% poverty rate. Many children go to school with worn out clothing, poor hygiene and no school supplies. Little Lambs provides school supply kits, new pajamas and family hygiene kits every year for the past 6 years for children in foster care, emergency shelters and low income families. Sadly the need grows every year. We would like to expand our ability to reach more children in desperate need. Little Lambs is creating beautiful by giving every child the same opportunities as their peers throughout our many different programs to help children in foster care as well as children living in poverty with basic necessities to grow and thrive. Education forms the foundation of any society. For a child to have the proper tools to learn, grow and succeed is fundamental to a child’s development. Little Lambs wants every child to feel equal to their peers. Every child should feel empowered to learn. By having the proper tools to succeed children can feel a sense of belonging feeling confident, prepared and ready to succeed. In the previous years we have had teachers, principals and social workers report that having children come prepared to school and with proper hygiene it has cut down on bullying in their schools. And that my friends is beauty in its most natural form. Here at Little Lambs we see beautiful by helping children rise above their economic challenges and thriving in everything they do.  Submitted by: Ted Chalfant
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The feature below is brought to you by Sole Hope, 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 Sole Hope, please visit their website page: here.  A good day for HarrietA slim girl in a simple blue dress steps into the center of the circle and her friends cheer. She stomps the red dirt with her new Sole Hope shoes, a giddy grin on her face–grooving until she runs out of moves. Seeming both sheepish and satisfied, she joins her friends at the edge of the circle to high fives and nodding grins. Harriet Is one of one hundred and fifty students treated by Sole Hope workers today. She watched as workers set up washing stations and white shades, then waited patiently for her jiggers to be removed. This school is in an area known to have a problem with jiggers. “I had them in my hands and feet,” says Harriet. “The jiggers eat.” When she walked, she had to contort her ankle to keep pressure off the painfully swollen parts of her feet. When Sole Hope’s team arrived Harriet gathered with other students to have her feet washed and her jiggers removed. She learned how to care for her feet and keep them clean, preventing jiggers from attacking her again. “Now I am feeling okay because the jiggers have been removed,” she says, “and I have shoes!” She casually taps her foot on the ground as she speaks as if the foot feels free for the first time in a long time. With a grin she makes her way under the mango tree to dance, receiving a high-five from a Sole Hope educator. “I feel free,” she says, clasping her hands together. “It has been a good day. I feel I will not be getting the jiggers again.” Stay funky, Harriet, and stay jigger-free! Sole Hope’s mission is to offer hope, healthier lives, and freedom from foot related diseases, through education, jobs, and medical relief. Our core values are to effectively put in place preventive methods to combat diseases that enter through the feet and to create a positive physical and psychological difference in the lives of individuals in impoverished communities. Not only do we love to serve young girls like Harriet, we also are excited to announce our newest addition to the Sole Hope staff, Josephine Karumira! Josephine joined us this summer as the Ugandan In-Country Director, the most senior staff position in Uganda! Josephine Karumira is a Ugandan professional. She holds a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology and has eighteen years’ experience in program management and development practice. She has previously managed a number of USAID and Comic Relief funded projects among others, in Uganda and Malawi. Her primary interests are social challenges affecting young people and marginalized groups in Sub-Saharan Africa. Josephine is a member of the National Alternative Care Taskforce and Coalition Against Trafficking in Persons in Uganda and participated in a number of national forums to influence OVC policies. She has contributed to building capacity for local government and civil society organizations to respond to the needs of vulnerable groups in the country. Josephine is determined to lead Sole Hope in helping more vulnerable people like Harriet. Her goal is to double the number of shoes that we produce as well as the number of patients that we serve. We are excited to see what happens in Uganda under a strong, female, Ugandan leader like Josephine! Submitted by: Ashley RedburnThe feature below is brought to you by Horticulture for Healing, 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 Horticulture for Healing, please visit their website page: here.  Empowering women to own their lives, claim their value, and recognize their beauty.Horticulture For Healing (HFH) is a new project and organization based in Orlando, Florida. It was founded by me, Joanna (she,her,hers). During 8 years of continuous sobriety, I’ve personally witnessed women overcome the many barriers resulting from the societal stigma of substance use. This is my first project. After receiving my BA in gender studies and environmental studies in December 2019, I founded Horticuture For Healing with a strong desire and dedication to pass on feminist power and self healing practices of sustainable horticulture/gardening, which helped me grow mentally and emotionally in early recovery, and continues to do so today. Currently, HFH consists of three board members, and two volunteers who provide a diverse array of perspectives and experiences. Horticulture For Healing is an organization that celebrates diversity and promotes inclusivity in all of our actions. We encourage *any and all women* from any background, in treatment, in recovery, and/or has a history of substance use, to participate in our self healing horticultural program. Horticulture is the art and practice of garden cultivation and management. It can be a form of healing for the mind and body. We will design and build custom urban raised garden beds for women’s treatment centers and transitional housing residences at no cost to the facility. The gardens will feature indigenous plants, creating a sense of place and understanding of the importance of native plants in the environment in which we will collaborate. Alongside the garden installation, we provide empowering feminism workshop sessions, while teaching women horticultural skills for indoor and outdoor gardening. Women who participate while in treatment or in a transitional/sober home will be able to take these horticulture and feminist resources out into life and the society in which we live. Her knowledge gained in early recovery can be used as a tool in times of stress, overcoming adversity, strong emotional ups and downs, and as an overall coping skill for life. Many of the women Horticulture For Healing will work with come from an array of intersectional identities - not only from a life of substance use, but including lives with a high prevalence of violence, sexual, and emotional abuse. We will provide a sacred space for experiencing a connection to the natural world and self discovery. Horticulture For Healing meets women where they are, moving past shame, guilt, and hopelessness, into a place of self love and acceptance.  Our goal is to provide an equal opportunity for all marginalized women in early addiction treatment programs to experience the lasting benefits of horticulture as a form of emotional healing and self acceptance. While Horticulture For Healing is designed specifically to reach recovering women with challenges to full societal participation and advancement, we understand and advocate for fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all people. Since many women who are recovering from addiction lack emotional and self-care resources, adversity can become defeating. As a recovering woman myself, I have a personal responsibility to try to help others break the cycle of addiction, especially the stigma that plagues it. Horticulture For Healing’s woman-centered approach includes feminist workshops in which women can begin to overcome shame, seeing that she too can become a leader within her community. We have the unique opportunity to reach women who are in a safe place where they can be who they are in this moment. Horticulture For Healing promotes social justice for those who are often neglected by the general public and are belittled by societal norms and stereotypes. Having overcome my societal ostracization due to legal, financial and emotional challenges, this organization will stand as a reliable reference for participating women. Women will be able to document Horticulture For Healing on their for employment and educational application purpose, alleviating worry they are without references. Horticulture For Healing is seeking support to build our first two gardens on an area of land at STEPS, a non profit addiction service treatment center for women in Apopka, Florida. STEPS prioritizes women who are indigent, pregnant, postpartum, have children, and/or using IV drugs. Each program lasts for 6 months for 60 women at a time. We have the approval to construct 2 brand new 8’ by 12’ garden beds at this site. With the support of the See Beautiful Grant, the first two garden beds will reach 120 recovering women over the next year. The experiences gained by the women who are touched by this program will also extend to their families and communities. My intention is to cultivate the inherent connection all human beings have to Nature. This organization will reach individuals that otherwise may have never had the opportunity to experience that they too possess this deep-rooted earth connection. Nurturing plants the way Horticulture For Healing demonstrates creates both an interior and exterior beauty everyday, helping women recognize their own beauty and value, owning her past and present, while at the same time connecting women in strength and solidarity. Submitted by: Joanna Brown
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