*Now through the end of the campaign, ALL donations up to 10K will be MATCHED (thanks to a very generous private donor)!! Give today and double your impact on the lives of Zambian women and children. Every little bit helps!*

About Clothed in Hope & the Chikondi Community Center

Two years ago our founder, Amy Woodell, went on a short-term trip to Zambia, Africa unaware of how it would impact her heart, her worldview, and her life. She came back and started this nonprofit organization, Clothed in Hope, dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty one stitch at a time, through education, empowerment, and opportunity in sewing and business training. 

This year Amy graduated from the University of South Carolina, packed her bags, and moved to Zambia to launch the first cycle of our skills training program with 11 Zambian women in the Ng'ombe slum compound. These women are now thriving, enjoying renewed confidence and pride in their work, financial opportunity through income-generating projects, and love within newly-formed group friendships. The “plan” didn’t just work; it's changing lives.

Our 11 CiH women and their families will never be the same. They can now eat 3 meals a day. Their kids can attend school. They can sleep at night knowing they can survive the next day. And with this realization comes humbling generosity. They’ve been teaching friends and family, the 12 women from a remote village we’ve taken on as our sister project, and even at-risk boys from a youth home. Our CiH women are so eager to share the skill with their community, to rise above the oppression and see hope spread through education, opportunity, and love.

We may have enjoyed a successful beginning to our skills training program, but we're just getting started. And we need your help. As of February 2013, we will no longer be able to meet at our current location, and we'd hate for it to stop here. When our program offers a hope that gives life, defeats oppression, and inspires confidence, how can we stop here? We must share this program with many more Zambian women and the Chikondi Community Center is the answer. The Chikondi Community Center will serve as a beacon of hope in an oppressive, impoverished slum compound. 

What We Need & What You Get

We need $18,000 by the end of January to purchase this facility (below) to serve as the Chikondi Community Center. Our original 11 CiH women will serve as the teachers at this center, generously spreading hope through knowledge and empowerment for lasting community development. We've experienced wonderful success in the first training program, and are ready to expand to let many more women benefit from the heart of our organzation. This hope is contagious.

All funds raised in this campaign will go towards the building, which will have an incredible impact on the lives of vulnerable Zambian women and their families. Donations are 100% tax-deductible AND you get rewarded for your giving- how great is that?! 

Give a gift this holiday season that multiplies to hundreds of Zambian women in need. Help us get to 100% funded by telling friends and family. Be a part of the hope that is an unstoppable force against poverty and oppression. 

The ultimate gift? Naming a brick in our Chikondi Community Center after a family member or loved one. Or how would you like a bracelet made by the women of the remote Muchochoma Village, exclusively for this campaign? Or a custom Chikondi bracelet with your favorite colors? The possibilites are endless. Check out more reward options available in the "Perks" section. 

Other Ways You Can Help

We need YOU to help us spread the word! We need to purchase our facility by the end of January, so you all will be the ones to help us make it happen! Tell your friends, family, random strangers, whatever you gotta do to help us reach our goal, and we'd greatly appreciate it!

Donate a tweet, Facebook post, and/or email to join us in spreading the word of need & opportunity for the people of Zambia.