Women at Sewing Center Partner ©PaulaWattsPhotography
Did you know that Sudara is a benefit corporation? This means that we are a mission-driven company. And that our success is not just measured or defined in sales and revenue, but in our positive social impact and creating long-term, sustainable change.
We exist to advocate on behalf of and empower women who have escaped from, or at the highest risk of, human trafficking by providing dignified employment opportunities.
Since Sudara’s first sewing-center partnership in 2006, we’ve learned that a living-wage employment opportunity is a vital part of empowering a woman to create a new life for herself. And, through your purchases of Punjammies® and Sudara goods, you’ve partnered with us to empower hundreds of women in India to live in freedom from exploitation. You can read a few of their stories here.
We’ve also learned that employment opportunities are not enough to create the long-term, sustainable change we truly care about. We must provide a level of care that allows a woman to heal from the past and facilitate training that leads to a self-sufficient future. Thus, we pay our sewing-center partners a premium that goes towards medical care and counseling. This premium also goes towards job-placement services and micro-loans for women who would like to start a business of their own.
Child at Back to School Program ©PaulaWattsPhotography
Sudara Freedom Fund
When we became a benefit corporation, we also created a non-profit, Sudara Freedom Fund to help us deepen our social impact goals. Donations made during checkout at sudara.org go towards Sudara Freedom Fund and have helped fund safe-housing for women escaping trafficking, equipment for new or growing sewing centers, and back-to-school programs. One of our most recent opportunities, the Sunetha Home, is supporting long-term, systemic change by directly addressing issues that lead to generational sex work.
Sunetha Home
The Sunetha Home is providing safe-housing, meals, and an education for 10 girls growing up in a red-light district of India. Girls who are at the highest risk of trafficking for sexual exploitation and being forced into the sex trade. Girls whose mothers may never be able to fully exit the sex trade, but who want a different, safer future for their daughters.
Update: With your amazing support, the Sunetha Home is fully funded and will be operational in 2017. Thank you for your generosity, your heart for empowering women and girls, and partnering with us for freedom.
Donations to Sudara Freedom Fund:
You can donate to Sudara Freedom Fund while you’re buying Sudara goods; just add a donation to your total at checkout. Want to make a donation now and shop later? You can directly donate here. All donations will go towards initiatives like Sunetha Home and empower even more women and girls to live in freedom. Questions? Email us: info@sudara.org