The Promise of a Project
I. Worn for Peace
Getting lost in a crosswise row of loops, immersed in soft colors of yarn, the steady clicking of knitting needles becomes the only sound that matters. For some, this practice may seem like a pastime. For these women, it is their future.
*Tida, a refugee woman from Thailand, has been crocheting since she was in the 6th grade. “I love it,” Tida tells me. In the conference room, she sits next to me in at a long table in a big chair. Tida is dressed like an American – in jeans and black tennis shoes. A black winter jacket with pink and white stripes was zipped up to her chin, covering her small frame. She commented on how cold it was outside today. Her black hair was pulled back into a messy bun. “I used to stay up at night until two or three in the morning reading a book on [crocheting]. I really wanted to learn. My mother used to laugh, she thought I was crazy,” she tells me with a smile while her face lit up as I asked her about her craft. “We first came to the U.S. in May 2008. My parents and my sister are in South Dakota. I’m here with my husband and we have one son. He’s going to be a year old on the 12th.”
Tida looks happy and settled now, but her life was not always that way. She lived in a Thai refugee camp for 20 years. Her story is one that she does not like to look back on.
Twenty years ago, a young woman and her husband ran from the flames; the dark night lit up fast. She was pregnant and he had his hands full. No one really understood why the army burned their village, yet they all knew the attack was coming. Things had been bad for quite some time. Everything was going wrong. What had started as a peaceful night in a quiet village turned to chaos in a matter of minutes: silence turned into shrieking and cries covered the calm. The villagers left as quickly as they could, carrying what they could, keeping as much intact as they could, and never looking back. The air was thick with moisture in the jungle between Burma and Thailand where Tida was born. Her mother and father had to stop on their journey to the Thai refugee camp for her mother to give birth. Her mother’s painful screams were hopeful compared to the ones they left in the village. She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl who would grow up in a refugee camp.
Most refugees could tell a similar story of being forced out of their villages and out of their homes, fleeing to a refugee camp. Sarah Kenyon Lischer’s work, Dangerous Sanctuaries, explores the dark sides of these camps. In them, refugees lived in tight quarters with meager rations and water was a day’s trip away. Often, the camps lead to more violence, rather than escape. They were supposed to be safe havens, not places full of abuse. They were created to give civilians a place to seek protection during a time of turmoil and war; however, women were often abused, taken advantage of, and could do nothing about it. This was their home now, the only place they had.
Many organizations across the United States such as: Refugees International based in Washington D.C., and New York, Refugee Relief International in California, and Catholic Charities USA, work to help bring refugees relief through a variety of services. Catholic Charities USA, founded in 1910, is a large organization that expands across the United States with branches in cities throughout. Its mission is to simply serve people in need. One specific program Catholic Charities has focuses on refugees coming to the United States. Catholic Charities Fort Worth is especially known for their services geared towards these refugees.
Stepping off the 1S Hemphill bus, I arrive at my destination and am in awe at the size of the massive brick building standing in front of me. I walked into the lobby and was greeted by a sign pointing me to the Chapel and the Cafeteria. My heels clicked across the floor as I made my way towards the information desk to a secretary name Rosa. I told her I had an appointment at 8:15 that Wednesday morning. Taking a seat, I looked around at my surroundings; there were ten people waiting along with me. Two children belonged to a man in a dark hat, laughing and squealing as he continued to shush them. I wanted to know all of their stories; why they were waiting. This building was full of hope.
Catholic Charities Fort Worth has six different programs to help refugees, all focusing on preparing them for life in America. Through their resettlement services program, Catholic Charities provides help and preparation to set up refugees in a new home and environment. The refugees in this program have been forced out of their homelands because of persecution and turmoil. They are moved into an apartment, given furniture, food, clothing, and education on the basics of American life. Resettlement services encourage these refugees to integrate themselves into society, and one way of doing so is through getting a job. This is where Abbi Ice comes into the picture.
II. Worn for Hope
With only a few short months to college graduation and destined for law school, Abbi witnessed poverty and oppression during a six-month internship in Uganda that would changer her in a drastic way. Although growing up in Tennessee, Abbi attended Wheaton College, a small liberal arts school in Chicago, where she majored in International Relations. After graduating, Abbi applied for an internship with TOMS Shoes in L.A. There she met her husband, a bass player for the band Green River Ordinance. He was a Fort Worth native, and the two pursued a long distance relationship for eight months until Abbi decided to move to Texas. Already having worked in socially conscious and charitable organizations, Abbi wished to continue in that field.
“I was really interested in this whole aspect of social conscious goods and this whole idea of corporate social responsibility and was really excited about it,” Abbi said passionately to me in an interview. In her late twenties, with pale blue eyes, light brown hair reaching her shoulders, and a tattoo on her left wrist and on each ankle, Abbi does not look like the stereotype of a social worker. “My heart has always been with those that are oppressed or affected by injustice. I began working with refugee services and with the refugees that are being resettled with Catholic Charities. I was able to go in their homes and see firsthand what they lived like.” It was through this work that Abbi came up with the idea for WORN. WORN is a business designed to give refugee women a job doing something they are good at. These women have been knitting for most of their lives and now are able to use their skill to provide income for themselves and their family.
“I was working with these women and these families and I kept on seeing these amazing knitted and crocheted goods and I kinda began thinking like, you know, could this happen?” And from that very question, WORN was born. With the help of her senior project manager, Susan Vinson, and TCU grad and sales manager, Rian Brooks, Abbi’s idea became a reality.
“We actually talked with the TCU MBA program and had three or four interns that came over once a week to see if this could be feasible. Could we get these women to handmake these goods and sell them to different boutiques to not only help these women find jobs but also provide unrestricted funds for Catholic Charities?” Abbi, with her hands folded tightly in her lap and the passion never leaving her eyes reminisces back on the beginnings of her idea. And they could indeed.
I sat in Susan’s office across from her at her desk, which was cluttered with papers and a picture of a baby smiled back at me as she delved into her role within the business. “I’ve always been interested in fashion,” Susan tells me. “I love the industry. I’m not so much interested in following the latest trends, as you can tell by my Old Navy turtleneck,” Susan says with a laugh pointing at her outfit. She is dressed in office attire, black slacks and a purple top. Before working for WORN, Susan worked for Dickies as the director of technical development in global sourcing but after having kids she wanted to take a step back. She heard about WORN through CCFW’s CEO Heather Reynolds and was hooked. As operational manager, Susan guides the program and keeps it under strict organization. Having 11 years of experience in this field, Susan is great at her job. She gives me the brief framework of the organization.
“We have two requirements,” Susan told me, “These women must be a refugee, and they must know how to knit or crochet.” When asking Susan and Abbi about the refugee women and meeting them for the first time, I was a little surprised by their answer.
“It’s definitely business. We have an interview process and an application process, so it’s more of just asking them questions and seeing where they fall,” Abbi responds. “After that, it’s been more of understanding where they come from and learning about their family and where exactly where they put their paycheck.” And where they put their paycheck is somewhat different than the average American might be used to.
“These women are excited to be able to go buy diapers and some are saving it for their child’s education when he’s nine months old,” Abbi continues, confessing her happiness to be able to go to Starbucks three or four times a week. “So you realize that this job is really impacting their lives and they now have the capability to save money; it’s something they’ve never before been able to do.”
Tida had not only learned how to save money and put money into a bank but also how to speak English, get a job, and drive a car. She is very thankful. “It’s a huge impact we’re making on their lives. I am really honored,” Abbi says, a wistful look in her eyes as she glances at the basket in the corner of the office overflowing with scarves. “I have the job of a lifetime.”
III. Worn for Fashion
“Our organization is different. It’s in America. We’re socially conscious because we’re helping people in America. We’re in Fort Worth, and the money is going back to our community,” Susan makes the case as to why WORN is not just another charitable foundation, but something more. “Our stuff is made by refugees, but it’s designed for Americans in American lifestyle.” Abbi chimes in to tell about her first experiences wearing the scarves.
“I mean, people would be like ‘I love your scarf. I love the product, oh and it has a really cool story behind it?’ That’s awesome. We don’t just want it to be another donation piece. We want it to be something that you actually like.”
The most popular style sold this winter was the infinity scarf which is a circle scarf made in a soft wool blend. Depending on the size and style, the scarves range from $58-$118 and individually initialed by the refugee knitter.
“If you look at our product in stores you have no idea that it was made by refugees or that it was a socially conscious brand. So it’s two-fold. You’re buying it because you like the product,” Susan adds.
It is true. Looking through the Spring 2012 collection catalog titled, Join Us on a Journey, a consumer would never guess refugee women made these scarves. The pieces are fun, fashion-forward, and would go great with any wardrobe. The colors are vibrant and the styles vary in length and design. Not until you turn to the back cover do you read about the women and their story. As the business continues to grow and expand, the refugee women continue to rise above poverty and make a new life for themselves.
Thanks to this wonderful organization, they are given that chance: Worn for peace. Worn for hope. Worn for fashion. WORN.
