By Marian Pontz
For 25 years, Lili worked as a special education teacher in Chester County, PA. She earned degrees in both psychology and education. She is deeply curious and loves Asian culture after living with a host family for a month in Japan. “I yearn to learn,” she tells me. Now, Lil is also excited to share that she has finally moved into her own apartment after living in housing at the Lancaster YWCA for seven years. Lili is a Maker and an independent contractor for a local nonprofit called Revolution Lancaster. Lili loves to hammer and manipulate metal. One of the things that she enjoys making is the Nomad Hoop Earrings, which are one of Revolution’s top-selling items.
Revolution Lancaster– a 501(c)(3) – was founded by women, for women. In 2014, the founders regularly visited YWCA Lancaster’s Emergency Shelter and spent time listening to and speaking with many of the women who lived there at the time. They heard so many similar stories – many of the women they spoke with were hard-working, educated mothers, grandmothers, and aunts, many of whom had encountered unforeseen circumstances that led to homelessness such as. Abuse, divorce, medical bills, poverty, lack of access to resources, such as higher education – many of these women expressed that they felt worn down to their core and were forced to seek refuge in this shelter. And yet, these dire situations did not define these women.
Every Thursday, Revolution’s skilled craftswomen, aka Makers, spend two hours creating exquisite jewelry, sharing their lives with one another, discussing current events, and discovering connection and camaraderie. They joke with one another and have open and frank conversations about whatever they feel like sharing.
Jean is a volunteer who frequently drives in from a neighboring county to work with the women creating Revolution’s jewelry. “My talent is just bagging the beautiful pieces when they have finished,” Jean says humbly. At the end of each session, the Makers are paid for their work that day. Yes, the supplemental income is deeply important – but that’s not all that comes from these workshops. “This is a stress reliever,” a Maker named Donata tells me. “I forget the world for a little while. ”
Maggie – Revolution’s social enterprise director – is at the present time the organization’s only paid staff member. As the Makers tell me: “[Maggie] does a lot!” In addition to other duties, Maggie works at the markets where Revolution jewelry is sold; she seeks donations for the organization in conjunction with Revolution’s board; she manages their volunteers and their contract workers. Currently, Revolution Lancaster has three Makers, but Maggie hopes to bring a couple more on in the coming year.
“We lost much of our volunteer base during the pandemic and would absolutely welcome more volunteers to help us at makers markets and other events,” Maggie says. “We depend on the money generated through sales at markets and online and the generosity of the community to help us continue our work.”
Each of the Makers has found community, acceptance, stability, and a place to express their creativity through their work with Revolution Lancaster. As they hammer, bend, and manipulate fine metals into reasonably priced, beautiful pieces of hand-crafted jewelry, they allow their larger community to support and uplift them. They are funny, kind, thoughtful, and hard-working. As Jean – Revolution’s volunteer – shared, “These are amazing women who work so hard, never give up, and have such pride in what they do.”
Additionally, Maggie shares, “Whenever possible, the sterling silver we use is from recycled sources. Our stamped leather bracelets are made from remnant leather. In other words, the leather that was left would have been discarded by other producers. We upcycle this leather into jewelry, keeping this scrap leather out of landfills. Some of Revolution Lancaster's first products involved leather stamping. To be as sustainable and ethical as possible, since I came on as director of Revolution Lancaster, I have not been purchasing any leather materials "first hand".
Since Animal agriculture is a significant contributor to climate change, as I move forward with our product line, I will ensure that we are only using remnant/upcycled leather and not directly supporting this industry in making our jewelry. The remnant leather that we use was donated to us.”
In addition to bringing the best-selling items to the GTGH Marketplace this year, Revolution Lancaster will also be selling some jewelry pieces that are made from upcycled embroidery thread, donated materials, and lead-free/nickel-free/cadmium-free brass. This small eclectic collection of jewelry items not only ties directly into the ideas behind Second Hand Sunday and upcycling/recycling, but it also allows us to offer some items at a lower price point since they are made with antiqued brass instead of sterling silver or 14k gold filled materials.
