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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
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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 The feature below is brought to you by Canopy Life International, 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 Canopy Life International, please visit their website page: here.  Beauty, belonging, and innovationCanopy Life Academy is a boarding school in Kenya for elementary age students from rural communities. With the help of many amazing people, we are empowering these vulnerable children to become Godly innovators who can end the cycle of poverty for themselves and their communities. Our organization’s values are beauty, belonging and innovation. I (Christi Gordy | founder) had been working in Kenya for almost 10 years before I began to more fully understand the incredible barriers that are keeping rural children caught in the cycle of poverty. It was overwhelming to me to realize that the odds are stacked against them on every side. For students in rural Kenya, there’s only a 50% chance that they will make it to high school and even less of a chance they will go to college. No matter how far they go, students will graduate to a 42% unemployment rate. This means, there are no jobs waiting for them, and the current education system is not giving them the critical thinking or problem-solving skills they need to create a job for themselves. In addition, 100% of our students from rural villages have experienced multiple ACE’s (adverse childhood experience) or even childhood trauma before they come to us in grade four. Left in this reality, students phase out of the school system at the end of 8th grade when free public education ends with no skills to create a job for themselves, to provide for their families or even to dream of a future. While the relationships and community in rural areas are immensely meaningful, the severity of these statistics means that dignity, belonging, choice, agency and purpose are being erased in these children before they can even take root. At Canopy Life Academy, we are all working together to flip the odds for students like these, giving them the heart, home, mindset and skills that they need to dream with their Creator and become who they were meant to be. Canopy Life students live with two house parents (a husband and wife team) in a residential program that functions like a family, all the way down to chores, birthday celebrations, morning devotions and evening family worship. They are taught every day by teachers who are engaging their minds in discussion, comparison, and hands on activities that cultivate their critical thinking skills and ensure that they are learning to ask the right questions, not just memorize the right answer. Our students spend time every week in Innovation class where they are learning the hard skills needed to start their own business and bring solutions to their communities: everything from technical drawing and assembling prototypes, to money management, leadership styles, design thinking, and computer skills. And, every summer, teams come to expand their worldview and their idea banks with field trips and cultural experiences. Most importantly, day in and day out, Canopy Life students are living with spiritual guides and mentors who are encouraging them how to follow Jesus and practice His way of life. Whether or not they attend college, Canopy Life students will have the skills to cultivate an idea to market, grow a healthy business and lead others with integrity. Our vision is that they will return to their rural community as Godly innovators who will provide jobs, solutions and leadership to their whole community. In its very essence, this work is restoring beauty to those from whom poverty has done nothing but take. As a core value, beauty is seen in everything we do from programs that restore dignity, identity, and purpose to students and parents to the way we strive (within tight budget confines) to keep our environments beautiful, peaceful, inspiring and creative. This is not easy. Often in nonprofit work, beauty (and even quality) is quickly abandoned for the sake of maximizing funding or the intense demands of environmental challenges. Beauty is not considered essential when weighed against the immensity of the need. But at Canopy Life, we believe that beauty is essential for true restoration in any poverty alleviation efforts, and we strive to value this truth in all that we do. We are honored to be considered for the See Beautiful grant, and we are excited for more people to join this story. Learn about ways you can get involved at www.canopylife.org.  Submitted by Christ GordyFounder and Executive Director, Canopy Life International The feature below is brought to you by Lantern House, 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 Lantern House, please visit their website page: here.  Sharing meals, warmth, and hopeIt was crisp but sunny as all the Lantern House staff pitched in to decorate and stack gifts for our annual Lantern House Christmas party. A twelve-foot tree was lit in the corner of our St. Anne’s Soup Kitchen and the scent of roasted ham and stuffing filled the room. Everything looked cheerful and excitement truly buzzed when we mentioned Santa’s impending visit to children at the shelter. I, on the other hand, was feeling a little more like a Christmas Scrooge. Something I’d been working on wasn’t turning out as I wanted it to. I was doubting if my efforts even mattered and wondering if my work was making a difference. It’s something I think a lot of people who work with the homeless population feel; that they aren’t doing enough, or that the work they do is leading to dead ends. I think as humans, we all sometimes fail to recognize the many ways our efforts and work positively affect those around us, and I was plagued by those thoughts on that day. That evening hundreds of homeless men, women, and children poured into the kitchen, suspending all worries, and relaxing into the warmth only a Christmas party can induce. Unlike any other day of the year, I think Christmas (or whatever wonderful winter holiday brings you together with friends and family) grants us the greatest suspension of illness, pain, suffering, and poverty. The pains of the human condition can be forgotten as we gather to celebrate the holidays, and I couldn’t help but feel real happiness, as beaming men, women, children, and pets, all of whom had faced homelessness and countless afflictions, were truly filled with joy. One hour into our party the cafeteria was packed with celebrating clients, and more were still trickling in! A friend and I guessed how many people might be in the cafeteria at that moment. “More than 200.” I supposed. “Maybe more like 300.” she guessed. “Wow, 300!” I said. It reminded me of a number I had considered earlier that day while working on my frustrating project. The number was 394, and it represented the number of individuals that had successfully transitioned out of our shelter and into housing of their own last fiscal year. It was merely a statistic to report earlier in the day, but when I looked at a room filled with hundreds of people, the number came to life, and I couldn’t help but imagine those 394 individuals enjoying Christmas in the warmth of their very own homes, maybe for the very first time. The work I do at Lantern House is a tiny sliver of the work our leadership, case managers, security, kitchen staff, and thousands of volunteers perform, not to mention the hundreds of doctors, therapists, law enforcement, and government staff, who assist homeless individuals throughout the community every day. Nevertheless, it is moments like that; imagining the hundreds of people who have left our shelter and are decorating their own homes and sharing meals with their loved ones, that make me really proud to be a part of the work that helps so many at Lantern House. Submitted by Hannah BowcutGrant Writer, Lantern House The feature below is brought to you by IVA Foundation, 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 IVA Foundation, please visit their website page: here.  Beauty: a foundation of hope, love, and life for victims and survivors.Beauty is not what we see when we look in the mirror. Beauty is within us, beauty surrounds us, beauty is the foundation of hope, love, and life. Sometimes in life, we go through circumstances that hinder us from experiencing the amazing elements life has to offer and the journey back to recovering our 'beauty' can be lonely, overwhelming, and seem hopeless. According to the NCADV - National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, “On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During one year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men.” This is one of many shocking statistics that reflects the unfortunate reality victims of domestic abuse and intimate partner violence are forced to endure. We see these numbers in the news, we scroll past them in tweets, we read about it in the newspaper, but it never really resonates until it happens to someone we know, or worse, ourselves. I remember my personal experience with domestic violence ever so vividly. It was the fourth of January, and the winter season was as chilly as ever. I will never forget standing in the cold, minutes after being physically assaulted once again. Fear, resentment, and the raging hurt I felt left me in tears but I stood on in the blistering cold. I’m quite certain that I blanked out after this thought, and every moment afterward became a passive flow of time in space. I was homeless for 8 months with my then 2-year-old, diagnosed with a major depressive disorder alongside various health issues. Living in a battered women’s shelter, I felt alone, helpless, and isolated. Though there was a roof over my head, food to eat, a means to survive, it was hard for me to see the beauty in anything. I blamed myself for my circumstances, I blamed myself for being a victim. If I had just been patient enough, if I had endured more, maybe things would have turned out differently. Like myself, many victims will experience drastic life shifts, trauma, turmoil, and stigma. Some may never fully recover from the damaging consequences of domestic violence. It took me a long time to piece together the blank spaces of my story but through it, I have found my voice. My journey has made me wiser, stronger and more resilient. And though it may seem that some challenges are hard enough to break us, through beauty - that brings hope, love and life, the right support system, and determination, victims and survivors can grow through what we go through. I founded the Foundation for Inspiring Victims of Abuse - IVA, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to uplifting victims of abuse in minority communities. IVA's approach is based on the notion that a problem shared is a problem half solved. Disclosure is one of the first steps a victim must take to see help. The race, religious, and cultural stigma that is rampant in minority communities hinders victims from seeking help, which in turn prevents them from gaining access to the resources and services they need to escape abuse. Through IVA, we will help victims and at-risk-individuals of domestic and intimate partner violence by bridging the gap between stigma and support and being their guide and best-friend on their journey from 'victim' to 'thriving survivor'.  Domestic violence is a national and global epidemic that knows no socioeconomic, religious or cultural bounds. 1 in 4 women in the U.S will experience severe domestic violence in their lifetime. One major reason why victims of domestic violence stay in abusive situations is due to fear of stigma and low self-esteem. Through IVA's inter-collaborative projects, we are focused on helping victims harness their inner confidence through beauty. Victims and survivors are judged by society at every step of the way … how could they fall for an abuser? Why don’t they just leave if it’s really so bad? How could they go back? A lot of what IVA hopes to accomplish is to break down these misconceptions and spotlight the underlying mental obstacles - unhealed trauma, societal stigma, lack of confidence – that victims face. We hope to breakdown the myth that victims are weak and frail, which is the opposite – To endure any type of abuse means to be determined, strategic, and resilient. Harnessing each individual's potential for self-discovery, self-development and empowering them to overcome any obstacle is what IVA plans to accomplish. Domestic violence is taking its toll in our communities, we need to unite as one to make meaningful change and we can begin by bridging the gap between stigma and support. Foundation for Inspiring Victims of Abuse (IVA) is dedicated to uplifting victims of domestic abuse and intimate partner violence (IPV) through counseling, life coaching, and mental health advocacy. By bridging the gap between stigma and support, IVA promotes healing, erases stigmatization, and reduces retraumatization in victims and at-risk-individuals. IVA's vision is to inspire and improve victims' quality of life through collaborative and innovative projects. A key activity of the organization is to advance a social connecting APP where users have the option of joining anonymously and connecting with survivor-advocates and licensed therapists. By working in collaboration with a trusted network of organizations and caregivers, IVA plans to simplify the task for victims seeking transformational resources towards living a healthy beautiful life, free of abuse. We invite you to join us in our mission to inspire change, one victim at a time. Connect with IVA: Web: https://www.ivafoundation.org/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ivafoundationorg/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/iva_foundation Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ivafoundation/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ivafoundation/ Submitted by Bilikis AdebayoDirector, IVA Foundation The feature below is brought to you by Be-Ruth Foundation, 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 Be-Ruth Foundation, please visit their website page: here.  Why The Evolution of Ruth Sees BeautifulMy grandmother, Ruth, was a woman of strength, grace and poise who valued education and worked tirelessly alongside my grandfather to bless other people in the community. To her, education was a priority: she worked to support her children and grandchildren in their scholastic endeavors. She was a human rights advocate and marched during the Civil Rights movement. Her many sacrifices reminds me of a caterpillar. The strength of the caterpillar determined to soar as a butterfly. The struggles women and girls encounter are just like what butterflies face as they free themselves from the cocoon of darkness & uncertainty. Women & girls are disproportionately underrepresented in STEAM fields, and young girls that are coming behind us are strengthening their wings so they can take flight and lead the world to greater heights. My grandmother Ruth's sacrifices reminds me of a how a caterpillar persists despite her struggles and still nourishes herself & her family because she knows change is coming. Because of her generosity, I grew in love, in faith, in spirit and in truth. Now I am well prepared to launch young girls into the next phase of their lives by providing empowering educational opportunities. I want to show young girls how to shed the old mindset (depression, fear, doubt, etc.) that keeps them from flying high. I am creating a safe space for them to flap their majestic butterfly wings and SOAR. Just like butterflies, we have struggles. Homelessness, depression, addiction, unforgiveness, breaking glass ceilings, being lukewarm, domestic violence, stress, feeling unloved, lack of achievement and bullying. But we can use these struggles and gain strength to evolve & transform. Be-Ruth uplifts t(w)een girls through our extracurricular programs: Empowering through Exposure, Engaging through Mentorship and Educating in STEAM. Girls are transformed. Our grand vision: a generation of talented young girls who prevail; who are unwavering in using their gifts to succeed in STEAM professions, who champion diversity and who insist on environmental stewardship, who free themselves & free their communities. The butterfly’s only job is to reproduce and the cycle starts again. They live by process. A system that is their life. Beautiful in form & function. Butterflies go through every step of their transformation process gracefully, with purpose & vigor, knowing higher heights are on the horizon. We teach young girls to do the same. This is not easy. It even takes more time than we want it to. But when the butterfly transforms, it's easy to see it's worth the work. For me, the symbol of the butterfly is more than pretty colors. It represents every young girl that has overcome the adversities of life and flourishes into a beautiful young woman of character. My grandmother’s sacrifices remind me of the caterpillar that evolved, a multi-faceted jewel of the richest & most vibrant hues that glides above everything that tried to keep her down. I continue Ruth B. Settle’s legacy by giving girls life changing experiences and opening up doors for them to walk through. I use hindrances as help-mates. Struggles as stepping stones. Let's join together to help girls rise and continue to BE and See Beautiful!! Let's Be Ruth! Submitted by Philana SwanCEO of Be-Ruth Foundation The feature below is brought to you by Development in Gardening, 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 DIG, please visit their website page: here.  Planting seeds of beauty.In a time when the news and the world challenge us to find hope, a garden reminds us to believe in the beauty and abundance that is promised to come. Audrey Hepburn once said, “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” When committed to some of the world’s most broken stories in some of the world’s darkest places, this belief in the abundance of tomorrow is life giving. Like the magic intrinsic in a seed, DIG remains rooted in hope. We believe that food and how it’s cultivated is a place where we can all come together to have a collective impact. And, while we all have a role to play in ensuring a more just food system, DIG has prioritized vulnerable communities who are often left behind by a development model they can’t access on their own. Addressing the nutritional needs of the ultra-poor, the physically disabled, the elderly, people living with HIV, chronically malnourished children and refugees, we are committed to serving the margins. Communities often found on the bottom of the bottom of the pyramid, the ones overlooked because affecting change here is hard. Alongside these unique communities, DIG grows beautiful by designing gardens that improve livelihoods, nutrition and deepens their sense of community belonging. There is, perhaps, no community where our intimate approach is more necessary than in our work with the Batwa of Southwest Uganda. For generations the Batwa, derogatorily referred to as the pygmies, lived as hunters and gatherers in the equatorial rainforests of central Africa. They took only what they needed to survive and, in many ways, protected the ecosystem of the forest. But in the early 1990’s the international community put pressure on the Ugandan government to protect the dwindling mountain gorilla population and preserve the remaining forests which were rapidly being cut down for farmland. These beautiful forests are one of the most biodiverse places on the planet and are crucial to regulating the earth’s ecosystem. The forests absolutely needed protection, however, their protection came at a cost to human lives. At a time when conservation and humanity were seen to be adversarial, the Batwa were evicted from their ancestral land, given no compensation to ease their loss, and were forced to assimilate to an agrarian society. With no representation in the government, no formal education, and seen to be different from their neighboring tribes, their assimilation outside the forest was traumatizing. They were stigmatized and marginalized, have been victims of repeated sexual and physical violence and maintain few viable livelihoods to provide for their families. The latest study gave them a life expectancy as low as 28 years old. Slowly through advocacy and support from local organizations, many Batwa have secured small plots of land peppered along steep mountain sides along the forest’s edge. Here they have been trying to make their way in a new world, but agriculture is a new practice for the Batwa and they have continued to struggle.   It’s here where DIG is best positioned to help, filling the gaps and designing solutions in partnership with the communities we serve. Since 2016, we have been adapting our cost effective and culturally appropriate model to support the Batwa’s new journey with agriculture. Today our Batwa farmers are feeding their families diverse nutrient-dense diets. They are earning an income from the sale of their excess produce and restoring degraded agricultural land they are now living on. What is perhaps most exciting is that DIG’s Batwa farmers are becoming known amongst their peers for having agricultural skills and knowledge that other Ugandans value. It’s easy to have a mindset that innovations for today’s challenges have to be high tech, sweeping and expensive solutions. Bigger and better than what we’ve done before because challenges today feel bigger than they’ve ever been. And in some ways they are, but sometimes the most transformative innovations are generated when we slow down, and think small. When we take the time to listen and work alongside the communities we aim to serve. Sometimes the most appropriate and beautiful response is a small shift that can be implemented at the grassroots level with respect and dignity and a focus on feasibility for the people we are aiming to serve. When we take the time to properly nourish ourselves and cultivate the earth in a restorative way, we see a world that is more secure and more beautiful. We will improve our economic productivity, transform our health and make huge strides to ensure that the earth can provide for generations to come. There is exponential beauty found in the smallest of seeds.  Submitted by Sarah Koch Executive Director and Founder, DIG |
See beautiful in yourself.
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