Aug. 27—Sisters of Solace is planning a new outlet to provide its body care products that support the women in the program.
Sisters of Solace is a residential program providing shelter for women who are survivors of sex trafficking, trauma and addiction. The one-year program provides them with access to health care, GED preparation and a job making the products. It's currently being revised to become a two-year program.
Executive Director Trina Clark is hopeful the store, located at 3024 Frederick Ave., will be open by the end of September. The new building was given by a donor, who will be announced by the nonprofit as the project nears completion.
"We have a business manufacturing candles and high-quality body products that are handmade by our ladies that are in our program, and we're able to market that," Clark said. "With the addition of this building, it allows us to expand that retail operation, to incorporate more products, to invite people into our space, to show them the hospitality and tell our story, tell the story of the ladies that we're working with and share their struggles and their successes."
Sisters of Solace's line of candles and body care products currently are available on the website sosstjoe.org. Hand balm, body butter and shower steamers are some of the items they make.
"We employ them, and they make these beautiful products," Clark said. "And they really are high-quality. And our goal is to make those healing because that's what we're all about is healing."
The new location also will allow other female vendors to display their products, which will provide the nonprofit with another stream of revenue.
"All of this is not going to completely fund our program, but it really goes a long way towards help supporting because where we're really supported is by community support," she said. "It's by people's generous donations that really help us do this work, and so we're trying to do our part and allow the community to step in and do theirs as well."
Learning how to make these products gives the sisters skills they can use to find other jobs when they leave the program.
"We really want to develop job readiness skills because that is highly important," she said. "A lot of the ladies have experienced trauma at such a young age that they aren't able to get those normal skills that we would have because they've been more concerned with where they're going to sleep at night, if they're going to be able to eat and being safe."