Despite a global pandemic, how are we still providing safe rehabilitation employment?

As a social enterprise, we became one of the most at-risk businesses to be affected by the coronavirus crisis due to limited reserves and employee vulnerability. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, we were worried about what would happen to our employees and business. 

As consumers' spending habits declined, bag buying behavior dwindled and tourism halted, we had to brainstorm. We needed to safeguard and protect our employees with job stability. The question was how?  

Our company wasn't initiated by making and creating environmentally friendly, unique upcycled bags, it started with an impossible idea: end human trafficking and forced prostitution. According to the Jerusalem Institute of Justice, here in Israel, there are 14,000 men, women, and minors who are trapped in forced prostitution. Of those interviewed 76% of people want to leave but feel trapped due to a lack of employability skills, finances, and education. For most, finding a job is an almost impossible task. That is where we come into it. We provide safe rehabilitation employment by creating upcycled bags. Each unique, one-of-a-kind upcycled bag is sewn in our safe working environment by a survivor of prostitution and human trafficking. 

However, even though we are known for our bags, COVID-19 came about and we were forced to remain agile and adapt to the growing global mask needs. With global mask shortages, the coronavirus-induced mask boom seemed like the perfect product for us to create. Since the virus outbreak, we have proudly created 1, 700 masks.  

We have proudly distributed our hand-made in Israel 100% cotton masks globally and locally to both businesses and individuals. As companies tapped into their CSR values and their desire to protect employees, supporting a local social enterprise became a priority. Through local and global support we were and are able to provide continuous employment to our vulnerable and at-risk employees with stability, love, and jobs.

As the Jewish New Year approaches, we cannot help but reflect and look back at our year of impact. We are proud to say we have provided 5254.65 hours of safe rehabilitation employment (including Covid19 months), created 4, 684 one-of-a-kind upcycled unique products, and saved 3375.7 square meters of fabric from landfill. 

So, if you are an individual looking for products with huge impact, turn to us or if you are a company looking for custom branded masks or bags, turn to us knowing the impact you are creating is huge. Your decision impacts the vulnerable within our society. Thank you for your contribution to changing our world and making a difference to those that need. Here at KitePride, pandemic, or no pandemic, every day we are changing lives.