Co-Founders of the social enterprise startup Handtoheart, an online border-less market allowing refugee women free access to sell their handicrafts to an international audience, paid a visit to the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation May 5. HandtoHeart gives refugee women the ability to work from their homes or community centers in Istanbul. The non-profit organization was the recipient of Istanbul’s first Borderless Hackathon prize, an award sponsored by the U.S. Consulate and Kolektif House. They were in Fort Wayne to learn more from area non-profits who help refugees.

HandtoHeart was invited to the United States under the auspices of the Department of State’s International Visit Program. The group ranged from age 19-29, and are from all over the world. They are united by their humanitarian effort to help Syrian refugees in Turkey

St. Joseph Community Health Foundation in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, is a ministry sponsored by the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ. 

When I asked my brother-in-law for some old jeans to use for a project, my sister quickly put together a bagful that I brought back to Donaldson from a weekend visit with my family. Collection bins were placed near the serving line of our dining room for people to contribute their old, clean jeans.

Maria Center residents, Sisters, co-workers, friends from the area who had read about the event in the local newspapers, joined on March 30, 2016 and worked for two hours cutting apart the jeans and then cutting parts traced on the denim that would be assembled as shoe parts for children in Uganda.

Those who gathered watched a video from the Sole Hope organization that explained how people in Uganda usually wear flip-flops, but there are no flip-flops small enough for the very young and growing children.  As a result, children often get jiggers in the soles of their feet that cause infection and health-related problems.

Using cut up tires, the actual sole is made of a piece of rubber and the denim parts are sewed to that piece of rubber as the upper part of the shoe and the heal.  The shoes are assembled by local people in Uganda and given to the children.

This project made all of us aware of how we can help people we have never met by just giving a few hours of our time to work together on a project that helps people to be healthy.  Some of the women attending from local churches were going to take the project back to their churches. 

Another afternoon will be scheduled so that people continue this project here at The Center at Donaldson.