Sew For Hope
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
When refugees arrive in the United States they are sometimes in need of assistance beyond what their refugee agencies provide. English language and job skills seem to be among the most important to learn to be able to flourish in their new life here. Sew For Hope offers training for marketable job skills in sewing. Graduates receive a certificate & sewing machine on completion of the program. This provides kills and tools needed to begin a custom sewing business or work for someone in the sewing industry. We match graduates through job placement ifrequested. We encourage English learning skills by giving tokens for ESL, GED, citizenship or any other classes taught in English. They can trade their tokens for fabric or sewing supplies for tangible resources. Isolation from American culture is often a problem for refugees from fear. Teachers at Sew For Hope become a friendly American face to welcome and befriend while bringing women of many nations together to learn from each other.
This organization has not yet reported any program information.
Where we work
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Affiliations & memberships
Nashville Social Enterprise Alliance 2016
External reviews
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of people trained
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Some students took multiple classes. Figures show each class that a unique individual took. 224 unique students have graduated from the program.
Number of paid registrants to classes
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Occasionally we give a scholarship to a student if they agree to translate for other students in the classroom. This number includes the scholarshipped students also.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Sew For Hope has the following goals for the program:
1. To help refugees and other marginalized groups of people obtain marketable skills to provide income for their families.
2. To provide sewing equipment and other resources needed to create entrepreneurs in the community.
3. To create jobs that will support Nashville's growing fashion industry.
4. To bring awareness to the plight of the marginalized groups of people served by the program.
5. To assist with ESL skills for immigrants and refugees.
6. Obtain access to additional space to increase capacity and provide stability in ongoing operations.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We have the following strategies in place or will have in place when funding is obtained
Goal 1. To help marginalized groups of people obtain marketable skills to provide income for their families.
Strategy: We teach professional sewing classes that train program participants in basic sewing skills. After graduation from the basic program the students may return to learn intermediate skills (Patternmaking, Machine Embroidery and Serger/Overlock) and finally advanced skills such as Home Decor, Tailoring, Children's Clothing Construction, Shirtmaking, Alterations, etc..
Goal 2. To provide sewing equipment and other resources needed to create entrepreneurs in the community.
Strategy: We provide each graduate with a new sewing machine so that they are ready to begin earning income from the skills they learned in classes. We also provide donated materials to graduates through an incentive program that rewards having supplies, coming on time, attending GED or ESL classes, being helpful to other students in the class, etc.
Goal 3. To create jobs that will support Nashville's growing fashion industry.
Strategy: We work with Nashville designers and companies to match them to graduates who are capable of sewing their product. We continue to work with both until we are certain that both understand the expectations of the other.
Goal 4. To bring awareness to the plight of the marginalized groups of people served by the program.
Strategy: We provide educational information on our website and speaking engagements about the groups we serve and how our program enhances their lives.
Goal 5. To assist with ESL skills for immigrants and refugees.
Strategy: We give incentives by sharing donated fabric and notions with students who attend GED or ESL classes. Our curriculum includes training in learning English for sewing terminology.
Goal 6. The Board is exploring options to identify facility space and obtain funding.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
1. To help marginalized groups of people obtain marketable skills to provide income for their families.
We fully train our instructors in the curriculum we developed to teach all the basic tasks of sewing. All students must pass a hands-on exam to demonstrate their proficiency in each of the tasks. If a student does not pass the exam at the end of the semester, they are allowed to come back for tutorials to be able to pass the exam.
2. To provide sewing equipment and other resources needed to create entrepreneurs in the community.
We supply our graduates with a sewing machine, sewing tools, materials and a certificate upon graduation from the program.
3. To create jobs that will support Nashville's growing fashion industry.
We work with Nashville's fashion industry as well as other national companies as a liason between our graduates to help them understand the sewing job and complete it.
4. To bring awareness to the plight of the marginalized groups of people served by the program.
We speak to groups about our program and the people we serve in the program. We also promote information on our website.
5. To assist with ESL skills for immigrants and refugees.
Currently we give our students incentives that they bring proof of attendance at a GED or ESL class. The incentives are in the form of butterfly buttons that they can trade for fabric, notions, etc that have been donated to us.
6. We have an enthusiastic board of directors working toward needs of the program.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
1. As of December, 2018, Sew For Hope has trained 224 refugees in our basic sewing curriculum.
2. A survey of graduates conducted in Spring 2016 indicated that 55 of 188 graduates at that time have earned income with the sewing skills and equipment provided at Sew For Hope.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Sew For Hope
Board of directorsas of 01/01/2020
Rita Atkins
Sew For Hope Founder
Term: 2015 - 2018
Rita Atkins
Sew For Hope Founder
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No