#beautifultome
#notwasted
We are a community of impassioned women and men working to design and produce beautiful pieces that:
Do Good,
Are Good, and
Look Good
And in the process we are growing a great little company, called 2nd Story Goods, filled with life-giving jobs, creativity, personal discipline, loads of fun and imagination!
shop now
Key facts:
Artisans are paid a living wage (approximately 3-4 times the minimum wage for Haiti) for the time they spend making goods, upfront, by the piece.
We lived in the city where we are working for over 10 years. We are a part of this community. All our goods are made in Haiti and most are made in Jubilee - a small neighborhood by the sea on the outskirts of Gonaives.
We operate as a subsidiary of "Much Ministries" - Much is a registered 501c3 non profit registered in the state of Georgia. Purchases are not tax deductable, ( of course! ) but donations made toward this work are.
During my initial visit to Haiti, in 2004, i was changed by a specific situation that happened our first day in Port Au Prince. We were with a local missionary in her car when we were approached by a young mother holding a 10-11 month old baby. The woman spoke at length with Sherrie, our friend. and as we discovered afterwards, she was begging us to take her child.. Powerless to feed her, and with two more young ones at home, she was willing to give her away. I was stunned. Sherrie quickly explained, “please know, this woman no more WANTS to give her baby away than you would. She is desperate.” At that moment i tried to imagine how deep a desperation i would have to be feeling that i would hand my daughter, 4 years old at that time, to a stranger not knowing if i’d ever see her again. I call that my moment of “perfect moral clarity.” And i knew that i’d spend the rest of my life doing something so that less women on this planet feel that sense of desperation. Looking back, I realize 2ND STORY GOODS was conceived that day.
Kathy Brooks (MK)
