Adorned Jewelry officially launched for purchase in March at both of our Portland Metro Adorned in Grace Bridal locations and online!
Our new youth entrepreneurship group that launched as a pilot program in the Fall has been going strong at the Adorned in Grace Design Studio as mentors and teachers from various churches come together to equip and serve girls from vulnerable backgrounds through this new type of workshop. Through this program, our high school girls have been learning basic business, marketing, and money management skills through the creative process of jewelry design.
Through the program, our girls also receive the opportunity to earn as they learn through our monthly stipends which have been transformational for our girls in learning how to budget and save as well as to be able to pay fees and buy uniforms to be able to participate in school sports! Of our 6 girls in the program, 3 have joined the spring rugby team and another is participating in track!
It has been a long-term dream for the Design Studio to be able to equip young women from vulnerable backgrounds and young survivors through entrepreneurship and design. Over the past year, it has been amazing to see passionate people of faith coming together to bring this dream into reality: local jewelry designer, Kristina Fordyce of Kardia of Gold came on to mentor, design, and teach jewelry making each week and local business, marketing, and finance leaders have come to pass on their expertise to this rising generation of young leaders.
Our girls are not only gaining mentorship and job skills but also are being challenged to grow into leadership roles. Through the program, they are helping to name, photograph, and market each of these pieces. As the program grows, they also have the opportunity to grow into more responsibilities and opportunities!
While we pause and celebrate the launch of Adorned Jewelry, we are also eagerly looking forward to new opportunities to come over the next year! This is just the beginning of a world of new dreams to create job skill training programs for young women for the prevention of and restoration from sexual exploitation.
Stay tuned for future updates as we continue on this journey together!
Want to get involved?
Support our program through the purchase of Adorned Jewelry:
http://www.adornedingrace.org/jewelry
All profits go directly back into our trafficking prevention workshops!
Want to mentor or teach a workshop for our young entrepreneurs group?
Email our program coordinator, Dana Pair, at dana@compassionconnect.com to learn more!
