Giveaway on Junk Posse

We have gotten to know Tracy from Junk Posse over the web and we have been so impressed with her spirit and love for children all over the world. She is doing a giveaway for us to help spread the word about Artists For Hope. Visit her BLOG HERE to see how you can win 2 sets of the beautiful Recycled Plastic bracelets that were lovingly made in Cazale, Haiti by some amazing women. The women who made the bracelets in these sets are featured below. We gave the women some creative license and then pieced the bracelets together in the end to make sets of three.

Yanick is a mother of 2. She has a 5th grade education, but they realized at RHFH very quickly that she is extremely intelligent. She has been working in the clinic for a while now doing dressing changes and currently has a house packed with people because of the earthquake. She is working towards building a house for her and her extended family. Her smile is infectious and she loved creating the bracelets!

Ginette has four kids and her house was destroyed in the earthquake. She does not have anywhere to work. She is learning to sew and loves being in the community group in Cazale. We are hoping to start some sewing projects in the future to help women like Ginette.

We've posted about Nadiege before and you can learn more about her HERE. She worked SO hard on the bracelets she made and really did a wonderful job. She definitely showed a talent for working with her hands and we're excited for future possibilities for her and her family.

Regine came to Cazale severely malnourished. She couldn't even walk. She has five kids and she used to buy and sell food to try to provide for her family, but she became too sick to do that. Her dream is to have a house for her family. I wish I could introduce all of you to her in person so you could experience her fun personality and great sense of humor. I will do a longer post about her in the future so you can get to know her a bit better. ;)

The women who made these bracelets were so thankful for work. They want to do whatever they can to make life easier for their families. They want possibilities and hope for their future. I had choke back tears at they end of our day together when they thanked us for coming to help them and for remembering them in Haiti. It definitely lit a fire inside us to do whatever we can to help these women and hopefully many more.

Thank you for caring about these women and spreading the word about Artists For Hope! It helps more than you can even imagine!

From Tracy Hanson of Junk Posse

“To Love what I do and feel that it makes a difference-How could I ask for anymore!”
That is how I feel about my Jewelry that I design and Create to help support many non-profits and Families that are Adopting. It is passion with a purpose. My first Love for Jewelry started in High School classes I had taken and I continued to take for several years late in to my adulthood. My father was a Jewelry Designer and My mom was a talented Artist. My parents gave me a desire to want to learn anything new . I really liked designing Jewelry and It became a Deep love for me when I started donating a nice portion of the sales to others.
My Muse are the Orphans that have been given a second chance by incredible People that take the risk to open their Hearts and Love the unloved.
I am touched by The Mom’s that send me Thank you notes & pictures of their little ones and I think of each one as I put a Sweet name or message on the necklace. I love to make a treasure , Something tangible that they can have close to them as they wait for a baby to come home or as a reminder of how they chose to be a Mom and how they Love their children.
The connection between women and my pieces is also something that continues to amaze me. I have had moms connect in line at Disneyland because they were both wearing one of my necklaces. I have also met many wonderful Husbands that want a one of kind piece that will show how much they appreciate their wives and daughters. I have such a Great respect for single Mom’s who make the decision to Adopt Children and sometimes older Children and to do the best that they can to raise them, These people are just some of my Hero’s that drive me each day to be so excited to get to make my Jewelry in my little studio, each piece by hand for someone that I admire and look up to because they have chosen to Be the Change our Children Need,
The Hope."

Tracy has generously donated one of her beautiful Haiti Hope necklaces to us to help the children at the Real Hope For Haiti Rescue Center. It is for sale on our website and ALL proceeds go to RHFH. What better way to donate to help starving kids???

More bracelets!

We have a few more sets of bracelets listed! We are excited to be able to send some more supplies down to Haiti with a team that will be visiting the Rescue Center this month so that the women can continue to create more. We have been working on some new ideas for more people to become a part of the art co-op (one of my favorites being adorable Haitian baby dolls!) and we can't wait to see what is to come!

Be sure to check out Omaha.net to read an article written about AFH and Cazale!

Houses For Haiti

First of all...our website issues are fixed and you can now proceed with buying whatever beautiful artwork you like to help the children in Haiti. Yay!

Did you know that we have TWO places where you can purchase art? One is our Etsy site...where we sell things made by members of our co-op, both in the states and in Cazale. The other place is on our Website where we have some amazing original artwork that has been donated by some very talented artists from all over the world. Be sure to visit both places to find that perfect thing for your home or business and feel GOOD knowing you are helping starving children and struggling families through your purchases!

Now on to more exciting things! We are in the process of listing some of the Houses For Haiti that local artists created after the earthquake. We haven't listed them until now because they have been busy being shown and sold in local art shows and galleries and we are now excited to list some on Artists For Hope. We have decided that there really isn't a better reason to use the proceeds from these houses than to help build houses for some people in Cazale that have been left homeless either from the earthquake or from severe illness. We will have some more information very soon about the women we will be helping and how you can get involved.

Thank you again to the wonderful artists and people who have been contacting us and helping to make a difference in the lives of people in Haiti!

We've Having Issues...

We're not sure exactly what is going on, but the shopping cart on our website is having issues. We are in the process of fixing it, but until then if you are interested in buying something, please email us at artistsforhope@gmail.com and items will be sold on a first come/first serve basis. I will try to update things as SOLD whenever possible.

We appreciate your patience with this. We are strictly volunteer based, so that all the proceeds go to help the kids at the RC...so occasionally these issues come up and we do our best to get them fixed as quickly as possible. Thank you!

New Artist: Tracy Hanson of Junk Posse

This beautiful Hope For Haiti Necklace was donated by artist Tracy Hanson and is for sale on our website. You will want to act quickly on this one!

Tracy Hanson designs and creates these beautiful pieces of jewelry by hand and she says "My Adoption Jewelry is my Passion with a purpose. I love to get to my Studio each day and design and Create for others." Tracy is an adoptive mom herself and also had the privilege of traveling to Ethiopia to bring home her second grandbaby last year! What a great reason to be creative!

Tracy has a wonderful blog that I know you will enjoy and you can visit her Etsy Site here to view more of her amazing designs. Thank you SO much Tracy for your generous heart and helping the children at the Rescue Center in Haiti!