Our Youth Artisans
Kind Karma is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of marginalized youth by hiring them as jewelry artisans. Every youth is an employee of the company and receives wages as they would at any other job even though they often don't feel like this is "work"! Since Kind Karma does not receive public funding, all youth wages (and the proceeds youth receive) are completely funded through sales made by our amazing community of customers. While we hope our team will grow exponentially one day, we are proud to be able to support perhaps a smaller number of youths than you may imagine but in greater ways. Here are some of their stories:
Although she describes her home as an environment with frequent conflict, Brooke herself is the most positive person you could ever imagine. Brooke is consistently the sweetest individual who is always ready to lend a hand or give a hug in support. She loves spending her spare time taking care of her pet animals and is also an amazing artist.
Rachael has had the most difficult past experiences to overcome but she is the embodiment of strength and resilience. Her determination is nothing short of inspirational and she is extremely understanding, mature and kind. Art-therapy employment seems to be designed for her and she is always eager to learn and develop her skills. We are so privileged to have her on our team and help her through find success through meaningful employment.
Originally from Iran, Farnaz came to Canada as a refugee and is adapting to life in her new home. She is such an inspiring individual for leaving everything behind to move across the world, alone, not even knowing the language. Farnaz is currently in school to improve her English and hopes to one day attend university to become an engineer! We are thrilled to be a part of her journey and are honored to support her in her new home.
Nik is a veteran of the children and youth service system but has made the most of his experiences and is one of the most intelligent individuals we have had the pleasure of working with. Nik loves learning about how things work and is always ready to participate in discussions of opinion where he can share his views and knowledge. He loves longboarding around the city and is so creative - he's always making the smallest objects out of little scraps of metal and paperclips.
INTERESTED IN WORKING WITH OUR YOUTH
We always get asked by our generous community about ways they can volunteer their time and skills to help our youth artisans. Our Kind Karma Mentors program now allows us to take advantage of this generosity so we can provide even more resources to our youth employees.
While our youth artisans are working with us, we work with them to set and reach individual goals. These goals could be education, housing, career or self-care related. But we only know what we know and that has its limits. Sometimes youth have questions about topics that we can’t answer. That's where you come in!
We would love if you would donate a little time if any questions arise to share your knowledge and life lessons with youth who may want to know more about your areas of expertise. You can do it via phone, Skype or even coffee. It could be a one-time discussion or if you'd like to be more involved, you can chat regularly - it is entirely up to you and your availability.
If you’re interested in becoming a mentor, we just need to know a little bit about you. That way when our artisans have questions, we can connect them to someone who has the answers! Just answer some simple questions in the form below and we will be in touch if something comes up.