Posts Tagged ‘social innovators’



She Dances, a non-profit organization based out of Birmingham, Alabama has a mission to provide healing, hope, and a future for girls who are victims of human trafficking.

“Every girl deserves to dream. Every girl deserves hope. Every girl deserves to love and to be loved. Every girl deserves to dance. When she dances she is alive…when she dances she is free. She’s free to live, to laugh, and to love. She’s free in her heart…she’s free in her spirit. Hope moves within her…beauty finds her. She Dances.”

Man…these guys are astounding.

Shannon was able to talk to Jeremy, the founder, and spoke with him about the beginnings of She Dances and what kind of projects they are working on now.

Love In Stereo: How did you get interested in the idea for She Dances?

She Dances: I was volunteering at an event in California and I met a girl who at one point was bought, sold, and held as a slave and was not free and she was there at this event just sharing her story and inspiring people with how she was rescued and has hope now. Later that day, I caught her out of the corner of my eye and I saw that she was spinning around and around and around. It was like a slow motion moment for me like wow, this girl who had no hope, no freedom was spinning around and dancing and playing with children. I knew that that vision would be imprinted on my heart and my life forever and it just hit me in the middle of the night why every girl deserves to dance. Dancing is an expression of freedom. So that’s where the actual name comes from. Looking at her dancing, I realized every girl deserves to experience what she is experience now.

LIS: How did it go from an idea to what it is now?

SD: We’re actually a pretty young organization, we’ve only been operating as a non-profit for a little over a year. A lot of things we do are based around art and creativity. We get lots of artists involved whether they are photographers or musicians or painters. Last year our big fundraiser was an art auction. Through that approach, we’ve been able to connect with some amazing people who can talk about us from a stage or feature us on their really popular blog.

LIS: What are some struggles you have had to face?

SD: Working through the administration of a non-profit is a very big task. We’re very much about the passion and the mission itself and sometimes the administration parts aren’t the fun thing, but we still have to have them. Luckily, we have great people who help us with that. And of course, getting funding is always tough. We just try to come up with creative ideas like 10K runs for the cause, a lot of benefit concerts, art auctions, and then we also sell t-shirts which is a cool thing and people can wear the shirt and people ask, “Hey what is that?” and it’s moving people to action and raising awareness.

LIS: What is the “Hope in Honduras” project?

SD: This is a project we started in March of last year. It’s our first big project. We got to a point where we had been raising awareness and having events and doing cool things here and there for the issue but we just knew that we wanted to take action with something hands-on. We have partners and friends in Honduras and run children’s home and school and bring children off the streets. My vision is to have safe homes all over the world for girls who have been victims of human trafficking. So let’s do it. Let’s start this project. So for the past almost year we’ve been raising funds and preparing to open this home in Honduras and bring girls in and give them healing, spiritual renewal, safety and education.

LIS: Tell me about your recent trip to Honduras this past week:

SD: So I just got back from Honduras and we laid a lot of groundwork there. The highlight of the trip was I was able to talk to a young girl there on the street that is being forced to sell her body and forced in to prostitution. It was an amazing thing to sit there and hear her story and talk with her and see that the hurt in her eyes and the need in her life and it was one of those things that definitely is pushing us to open the home any sooner. Our goal is to open the home by April now. During my trip, there was a lot of learning the culture and scoping out places in the city that girls are at high risk to where we will be getting the girls and rescuing them from that lifestyle. It’s hopeful to know that in the very near future we’ll be bringing girls off the street and bring them a future and freedom. It was a great trip.

LIS: How can people get more involved?

SD: We always love connecting to people and seeing what they’re passionate about and seeing their skills and talents whether they are musicians, artists, someone who sews, owns a business or someone who works at a church. We can use all these people to spread awareness and do something awesome so please contact us! A simple and great thing that anyone can do is to buy one of our t-shirts from the online store. When you buy a t-shirt it helps support our mission and you get something tangible in return.

Check out She Dances at:

www.shedances.org

Twitter: www.twitter.com/shedances

Blog: www.shedances.org/blog

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Posted in Awesome Causes, Interviews | 2 Comments »

For almost two years, SideWalk Chalk has been working with South Carolina students in Charleston County schools to help cultivate creativity among students with a focus on writing. With four books published, accomplished artists/musicians/dancers and other creative types lined up to help out, SideWalk Chalk is taking a unique approach to reaching out to kids who otherwise might not have access to positive outlets to expressing their thought, emotions, and creativity. Chad sat down with founder and co-director John Caspian and talked to him about the beginnings and the future of SideWalk.

LoveinStereo: How did SideWalk Chalk get started?

John Caspian: I was in a book club with 3 other people and had helped convince one of my friends to quit their job and start selling health food. They asked me what I always wanted to do and I remembered reading about the decline of grades in poorer schools in Charleston County. I wanted to do a writing program, similar to 826 Valencia, where we go into the schools and battle illiteracy by focusing on writing. My friends told me if I was serious, they would help. So I turned in my two weeks notice to my two jobs and we started working on a plan.

We started off with one school, Sanders Clyde Elementary, where teachers would bring students to us. From there we realized the students and teachers needed help during school hours,so the next week we started going in once a week with the four people for one hour.

Now, we are in seven schools, have 50 volunteers and teachers are seeking us out. It’s amazing to see a non-profit grow even in a recession.

LIS: What are some of the struggles you’ve had to face through the years?

JC: We’ve been very lucky to not run into any major road blocks The biggest would have to be our financial situation, but that’s true for pretty much everybody. The biggest letdown is when you have some children who just don’t want to write.

LIS: What was your “AHA!” moment with SideWalk Chalk – the moment you knew you were on the right track?

JC: Last year at the end of the first semester, we were dealing with a 4th grader who had been suspended 10 times and was very close to being expelled. We were working with the class to published a group book and one day the homework assignment was to write about their shoes. He goes home, writes his story, has his grandmother type it up and even had some pictures he drew to go with it. The story was about how his shoes talked to him throughout the day and would complain if they were tied to tight.

The next day the principal calls and tell me that he actually DID THE HOMEWORK! When the student was asked why he completed the work, he said that “he learned that he liked to write.” Everyday he would write a new story that his grandmother would type up and would bring it into class. By the end of the year, the walls were filled with his stories.

LIS: Why do you think your program has been successful?

JC: Our volunteers can show the students specialized attention that one teacher may not be able to in a class of 20 or so students. The volunteer and the the student create relationships that both parties are invested in. The students know their names and are excited to see them.

LIS: How can the Love in Stereo get more involved?

JC: Mainly by getting the message out via social networking and word of mouth. Many of volunteers come from someone else talking about it and spreading the word.

LIS: Where do you see SideWalk Chalk in the future?

JC: Being able to offer our free service to every school in the Charleston area. Find another struggling city in America and start another branch. Hopefully we’ll be able to plant all around America.

LIS: Anything else you want to add?

JC: Everyone’s voice matters and it can be heard. Once student’s begin to be heard, and they believe what they are writing, they start to take pride in what and how they communicate.

You can check out SideWalk Chalk at:
www.sidewalkchalk.us
Facebook: facebook.com/charlestonchalk
Twitter: @charlestonchalk

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Posted in Awesome Causes | 6 Comments »