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Partnering with Share Society, the Jewels of HOPE company aims to bring the community together once every month over pizza, conversation and a workshop teaching women how to make bracelets.
HOPE Outreach, which is an acronym for Helping Out People Exploited, have been having pizza gatherings with Share Society for the past eight years.
However, it was only three months ago that they created their first social enterprise company Jewels of HOPE as an initiative to help struggling women in the community.
“We focus on the marginalized women, women in supportive housing units, perhaps in the shelters or in the street level, we can help them with a step up,” said Angie Lohr, executive director of HOPE Outreach.
All women are allowed to volunteer and are given a $5 honorarium for every bracelet they make in gift card certificates.
Project lead for Jewels of HOPE, Lorraine Richmond explains the meaning behind the bracelet design.
“The black onyx beads represent perseverance, strength and sadness. The four colours represent the medicine wheel, red, yellow, black and white. The medicine wheel means different things to different Indigenous groups, but it also means all people of the world,” Richmond explained.
Each bracelet also contains an orange charm for residential school awareness, along with a silver pendant that says hope.
The bracelet also comes in white howlite stones, which represent patience and peace.
“Jewels of Hope is really about offering hope to our women," added Richmond. "It's about being together and the jewelry is really about a sign of opportunity and healing within our community."
Since starting this project, they've made 800 bracelets and have sold around 400 through their online website.
The funds are then used for supporting other programs within HOPE Outreach.
A volunteer for the first time, who asked stay anonymous, said she enjoys having pizza, hanging out and is passionate about giving back to the community.
“I’m in recovery and I’ve just passed my two years clean and sober and I was homeless living in the downtown east side for several years,” she said.
Another volunteer, Natasha, explained that she's been coming to these social gatherings for the past three years.
“It’s a really nice place to go to when you’re homeless, because I am homeless right now with my cats, so it's nice to be able to come somewhere where people care about you," she noted.
Women interested in joining the jewellery workshop can reach out here. HOPE Outreach is also currently accepting new volunteers.
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