| Women's Empowerment
Women's Empowerment educates and empowers women who are homeless with the skills and confidence necessary to aquire a job, create a healthy lifestyle, and regain a home for themselves and their children. SIGS has a very close, long standing relationship with this organization. Their community services embody everything that Sorpotimist stands for. Our proactive efforts to promote Women's Empowerment is accomplished by co-hosting the Women's Empowerment Crafts Party, SIGS very own unique Hidden Support program for their "Job Readiness" graduates, sewing Holiday stockings chock full of stocking stuffer donations and other various volunteer opportunities. Women's Empowerment is determined to "Stamp out Homelessness!" and SIGS is right beside them to help find the solution that will make this a reality!
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| Women's Empowerment Crafts Party:
Gift giving and merriment come to the Women's Empowerment students, graduates and their children if only once a year. This particular service project is very dear to our hearts. SIGS coordinates the Crafts Party under the direction of the Women's Empowerment Staff, their volunteers and also a few of our own! As many as 20-30 different craft stations are set-up in order to create handmade presents to be wrapped with care for Christmas Day. Precut fleece scarves of various sizes, eyeglass cases, notepad holders, zipper pulls, gift mugs and jewelry are just the beginning of the various craft stations that these family members can visit to create unique and special gifts for one another. There's even a gift wrapping station to complete the gifts with lunch provided for the families who attend.
In 2014 SIGS collected gently used holiday cards and repurposed them to make gift tags for the Women's Empowerment Crafts Party gift wrapping station. Last year over 120 mugs were donated by SIGS members, family and friends for the gift mug station for its debut. The crafts party in conjunction with the Holiday Stockings & Stocking Stuffers collection is the most heartwarming and soul fulfilling community service project. This special day is indeed priceless.
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| Holiday Stockings & Stocking Suffers:
Once again the holidays mark a special time of year for both giving and receiving. Giving carefully handmade stockings to the children of the Women's Empowerment students and graduates is a gift in itself. To date, SIGS has made over 400 holiday stockings.
Collections for stocking stuffers is both fun and rewarding as SIGS checks off the wish list for both mothers and children during the holiday season. SIGS gets to play Santa Claus for a day riding in with a truck full of stocking stuffer donations for the Women's Empowerment Staff to distribute to families in need.
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Hidden Support:
SIGS Hidden Support project was created as an extension of the Women's Empowerment "Job Readiness" program. Once a graduate completes the eight week re-entry course, she is given a voucher to the local thrift store to buy clothes appropriate for job interviews. Thrift stores do not carry bras and panties, so for every graduate that completes the "Job Readiness" program, a little Hidden Support will be waiting for them on the other side. These new undergarments are presented discreetly just prior to graduation day. Our purpose is to help the graduates' new clothes both look and fit nicely. To date, these garment filled totes have been handed out to over 400 graduates.
One graduate, upon receiving her new undergarments, admitted very emotionally, “this is the first new bra I have had in ten years!”
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Children's Receiving Home Sacks:
SIGS involves itself with other community service and outreach programs by utilizing the sewing talents of our membership. SIGS donates handmade sacks to the Children's Receiving Home of Sacramento. Our purpose is to provide the children with something unique to pack their few belongings in as opposed to a plastic trash bag. To date, SIGS has donated over 2,500 handmade sacks and we're just getting started. Imagine the possibilities in the years to come!
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Valentines Lunch for Mustard Seed:
SIGS gives from the heart by providing Valentines lunch for the children at Mustard Seed. In addition to lunch, Valentines inspired goodies and crafts are provided so that the children know what a special treat Valentines Day can be for family and friends.
If you only have one smile in you give it to the people you love. ~Maya Angelou
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| Backpacks 4 WEAVE:
The campaign to Stop Human Trafficking has been at the forefront of our community's needs for many years. SIGS has revamped their Backpacks for Mercy program to focus our efforts to support WEAVE. We supply backpacks containing basic toileties, clean clothes and other amenities to WEAVE where trafficked girls are brought to WEAVE for care and support. SIGS provides backpacks as needed. The call for action has been made and we proudly answer the call.
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Bra Recycling:
This community service project, which originated last year as a collaborative project among the entire Sierra Nevada Region, is literally close to the chest. Have you ever considered the amount of foam, plastic, metal and fabric that occupies our landfills? Honestly, neither did we. This year, we will continue collecting new and gently used bras for women and young girls and offer them to Women's Empowerment and St. John's Shelter as both organizations support women in their transition and re-entry into a self-sufficient lifestyle.
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