OUR IMPACT
Steady employment builds skills and confidence. It provides stability and keeps families together. Vi Bella means “beautiful life” and we believe everyone deserves a life filled with beauty, hope, dignity, and purpose.
WAYS WE IMPACT COMMUNITIES IN HAITI AND MEXICO
Providing Scholarships
School is not free for children in Haiti and many are not able to receive an education. We are working to support as many families as we can to change that, with more than 65 children relying on Vi Bella Serves for school sponsorships.
Housing Opportunities
Our artisans have overcome housing challenges and some have been able to build new homes with our support. Safe housing is paramount to keeping families together and children out of orphanages.
Medical Assistance
Many of Vi Bella’s Haitian artisans are amputees and wear prostheses from being trapped under rubble during the 2010 earthquake. Vi Bella Serves ensures that our artisans have routine checkups on their prostheses and are re-fitted as needed.
WHY JOB CREATION MATTERS
Community Improvement:
Job creation is a cornerstone of fostering long-term change, as it directly contributes to the overall improvement of communities, creating a ripple effect of positive transformation.
Keeping Families Together:
By providing sustainable employment opportunities, we aim to keep families together and empower parents to support their children, thereby reducing the likelihood of children ending up in orphanages or living as restaveks.
Brighter Future for Children: Sustainable jobs for parents ensure a stable and nurturing environment for children, offering them a brighter and more promising future.
Brighter Future for Children:
Sustainable jobs for parents ensure a stable and nurturing environment for children, offering them a brighter and more promising future.
Breaking the Cycle:
Many children in Haiti are sponsored to go to school, but the challenge arises when they graduate and cannot find work. Creating jobs becomes paramount in breaking the cycle of unemployment and poverty, providing these educated individuals with meaningful opportunities to contribute to their communities.
Dedicated To Keeping Families Together
One of the best tools to fight poverty is keeping the family unit intact. Did you know that many of the children in Haitian orphanages have at least one living parent? Due to a lack of job opportunities and the ability to provide for a family, parents will take their children to orphanages in hope of a better future. At Vi Bella, we believe that a better future involves keeping families together. Your purchases of handmade, ethically-sourced jewelry help us fund education for children in Haiti and empower parents to consider alternatives that keep children out of orphanages.
Employment For Artisans With Disabilities
Many of the artisans employed by Vi Bella were tragically impacted by the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Some are deaf, others are amputee survivors making a life for themselves and their families. When you donate or shop with Vi Bella, you are helping us continue to provide support and medical assistance, and prosthetics to those in need.
A portion of donations and store proceeds go to new prosthetics or adjustments to their current prosthetics to ensure a correct and comfortable fit.
Meet Vi Bella Artisans
Ballard
Did you know that every Vi Bella artisan can support up to 8 people through their good employment? Ballard, an expert jewelry maker, lives with and supports her mother and siblings and is able to go to school on the weekend to learn accounting. Support Ballard and artisans like her by buying her hand-crafted creations.
Jasmine
Jasmine is a member of the sewing team at Vi Bella. She is also one of the several Vi Bella artisans who are deaf. Many others are amputee survivors. Jasmine is able to support herself and her children with dignity because of her job and is able to thrive in a workplace where she has a sign language interpreter and other deaf coworkers.
