Kemy Castor

Kemy Castor

Commercialisation de la mode
Collège LaSalle | Montréal

Hope Threads Organization

Early on in life  I  have always been thought that it is important to give back,  as I was raised by an amazing activist mother who was always very involved in our community doing charity funds and giving  medical care to abused woman in need at the corner stone shelter in ottawa. At the age of 16 I started volunteering at the harmony home and I met adrienne, a 17 year old girl who moved away from home at an early age and was physically abused by her partner a number of times. Andreann and I became very close as we shared a lot of the same interest despite not being brought up by same circumstances. We both had a passion for Fashion and loved anything beauty related.I Sometimes brought clothes or makeup that I found no use for anymore. I loved seeing how happy she was and how simple pieces of clothing or  could light up her hole day and boost her confidence. While visiting a thrift store one day I thought to myself how the girls at harmony home would love to have to get a couple pieced from this store because these days even thrift stores can be  relatively expensive for someone who absolutely has  no money. I than had the idea that how cool would be if girls and women could have the opportunity to go shopping and dress how they want,.feel good in their own skin. I then went online to look up if there was an organization like that in proximity to ottawa.The only results I got were quite disappointed,yes  these company gave away clothes but these services were not clothes that were on trend and most of them were quite used or damaged and the rest rest were given to  thrift store such as value village and salvation army,popular thrift stores in ontario. This is when I decided to start up my own organization were girls who were less fortunate could attend events where they would find unwanted clothes for manufacturers and retail store,boutique,designers  and gently used trendy clothes handpicked by me and my team not only that but grab a couple beauty products as well,thus the beginning of Hope treads. I started to contact small boutiques and stores in ottawa such as Milk and different manufacturers in ontario who might have unwanted minor defected products such as  hair tools, hair accessories,makeup etc. These companies whom we work with are our sponsors and our promoted by our organization. We opened our first event at the cornerstone shelter on september 8th 2014 ,we opened our doors bright and early at 8 in the morning,serving them coffee and cookies to us donated to us by a Cafe Luna, an indie cafe in Ottawa. Hope Threads gave out reusable hope where the woman could fill their  bag with trendy clothes, makeup and hair tools. During this day I had a few volunteers come and help from high schools who had a passion for fashion in the city in exchange of volunteer hours. Some of these ladies might need an appropriate outfit for a potential employment opportunity, physical appearance is very important as it  is the first impression you make to the world that is why I wanted my volunteers the maximum quality service. We hold our event every last Sunday of every third month of the year. Today , Hope threads  not only donates gently used good offers services such as free haircuts by licensed hair stylist, and manicures, we also work hand in hand with a social worker who helps these girls search for employment to gain independence.Starting this charity has taught me so much, starting with having to good work ethic, patience  and to always persevere even when faced with adversity, I've  met so many strong women like my friend  Andrea who have face so many adversities but never gave hope . I am also very grateful to  have had the opportunity to meet many incredible people in The Fashion business industry and the many people who were willing to offer their services for a great cause out of selflessness. Hope Treads is now  focusing on building or charity awareness so more people and companies can get involved.