SEATTLE — In the heart of Seattle’s Lake City neighborhood, sits a bustling studio. Inside, there are women hard at work, cutting and creating.
This week, they’re working to upcycle business banners into reusable bags, and they’re getting paid for it.
The inspiration for the studio came eight years ago when Ming-Ming Tung-Edelman was attending a fashion course at the University of Washington.
“I learned two important things. Fashion, especially textile, is generally one of the biggest waste [industries]. About 85% gets dumped into the landfill,” says Tung-Edelman. “I also learned that refugee women have the highest unemployment rate of 60%. It was just like a light bulb moment.”
A moment that sparked the ‘Refugee Artisan Initiative’. RAI is a non-profit that creates a community for local immigrants and refugees while upcycling unwanted material and turning it into sellable hand-crafted items.
A burlap sack from Starbucks? Now a reusable tote.
Returned linens from Amazon? Transformed into colorful tea towels.
The transformation and upcycling are made possible with skilled sewers like Mehnaz, a refugee from Pakistan.
“I love it,” says Mehnaz. “The other women too. They are so happy.”
RAI employs 41 female artisans. Many, once forced to flee their homes, came to Washington as refugees.
“Not only have they already escaped war trauma,” says Tung-Edelman. “They come here facing isolation, depression, and there’s a lot of mental struggle.”
Those challenges only underscore the work that happens at RAI.
Sewing weaves the world together, believes Tung-Edelman.
“It’s a universal language,” says Tung-Edelman. “Realizing, like they come to America, [where] there’s so many things unfamiliar, but the sound of sewing machines and using their hand to creating things; that’s something a lot of them do.”
Each woman in the program is provided training, language courses, and a living wage - tools to help them support their families and their dreams as they work to piece together a better life.
“I think we have a responsibility as a community to lift them up,” says Tung-Edelman. “Because when we lift them up, we lift everybody up.”
The organization relies on donations, grants, and online sales to support each of its artisans. They hope to continue expanding in the next year, to help even more immigrants and refugees. You can find their work here: Shop all - Refugee Artisan Initiative