See Beautiful Grant Applicant: Designed For Joy

The feature below is brought to you by Designed For Joy, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about our giving initiatives, please click here.
 
To learn more about the featured organization, please visit their website here.

That homeless woman on the corner with a cardboard sign? We see beautiful.
That woman who was just released from prison with a broken background? We see beautiful.
That single mom with four kids trying to survive poverty? We see beautiful.
That woman deciding everyday to stay sober after years of addiction? We see beautiful.
That young woman that escaped sex trafficking? We see beautiful.
That refugee who just arrived in a new culture and doesn’t speak the language? We see beautiful.

This is where we see beautiful. We see it in the eyes of women trying to survive. This is why we started Designed For Joy.

CREATING A PATH
We are creating a path for these vulnerable women to move forward and gain independence again. Designed For Joy provides second chance employment to women in our community who need a safe and dignified job.  We partner with other organizations, such as rehab centers and homeless shelters, that are supporting these women and we provide the vocational component to their life situation. Many of these women cannot get any other job due to factors such as criminal history, mental health, drug rehab programs, or lack of ability to speak English. 

LIVING WAGE EMPLOYMENT
We aim to lead the conversation of living wage work in our community. We pay a living wage of $15/hr, to provide women with a solid paycheck. During their time with us, the women learn to create beautiful products such as purses, jewelry, and charcuterie boards. Our goal is to build their confidence, provide them with training and skills, refresh their resume, provide a solid letter of reference, and, ultimately, launch them into full time work.

EVERYONE IS WELCOME AT OUR TABLE
Designed For Joy believes in diversity and inclusion. We welcome all women regardless of race, background, gender identity, or religion. 100% of our clients live below the poverty line. The women in our program represent the diversity in our world. We serve women who are coming out of situations such as sex trafficking, generational poverty, homelessness, rehabilitation, prison, and emergency situations. Our women range in age from 20-70. The majority of our clients are mothers, and most are single mothers. 68% are from under represented minority groups. Over half are homeless or living in a women's shelter. All are invited into a welcoming, safe work environment. We provide meals and a community sharing time to promote mental health, alongside their job training.

SAFE PLACE
Whether clients are living on the streets or in hostile situations, Designed For Joy offers them a safe working environment and a place for personal growth.  Our studio is ideally located directly across the street from a homeless shelter that we partner with, and right beside the bus station, making it easier and safer for our women to get to work. One woman who recently escaped sex trafficking, was able to safely work in our studio while a pimp stood outside looking for her. We offer trauma and conflict management training to all of our clients, staff, and volunteers to promote a safe community. This year, we led a team of 25 volunteers through a “Year of Impact,” a mission targeted to increase awareness of social justice issues, focusing on Race Equality, Poverty, Prison Reentry, and Trafficking.

TRIANGLE IMPACT PROJECT
Wanting to serve even more women than our regular program could accommodate, we partnered with two area non profit groups, The Scrap Exchange in Durham and The Women's Center of Wake County, to establish a day work program called The Triangle Impact Project. These are stand-alone 3-day workshops that provide women who are experiencing homelessness an opportunity to work with us creating stylishly designed and sustainably handmade tote bags. They work with us during the day, earn a living wage, and receive immediate funds at the end of each work day. These funds are often used for emergency needs. One woman that was sleeping in a tent outside in the snow used her earned wages to sleep in a warm hotel.

IMPACT
Designed For Joy has hired over 63 women and we just reached the milestone of paying out over $100,000 in living wages!! We have a large volunteer base and we warmly invite you into our studio to see the good work God is doing and meet the women we are serving. Together we can impact the lives of the most vulnerable women in Raleigh. 

Submitted by: ​Kristen Sydow