It's giveaway time at Dignity Regained! I'll be giving away a pair of my Vintage Stone Earrings to the lucky winner. 
1) Hop over to www.DignityRegained.com and take a look around
2) Comment here to let me know which product you love and/or something you would like to see more of.
3) Share this giveaway on Facebook
The giveaway will go through Friday. Good luck!

Get Creative

People ask me all the time what they can do to help fight against human trafficking.  The best advice I can give is do what you can.  Meaning, support organizations who are doing work that you'd like to support, know where your money goes and buy ethically when you can, and then put your God given talents to work.  If you're gifted in administration then offer to volunteer somewhere with office work or other administrative functions (if this is you by they way, talk to me :) ), if you would like to connect relationally then volunteer somewhere where they focus on restoration.  Think about what you like to do and be creative in how you implement.  Here's a great example of someone who was moved to do something, and then was creative in how he helped to raise money for the fight against human trafficking.




IJM (International Justice Mission) is a human rights agency that brings rescue to victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to secure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to ensure that public justice systems - police, courts and laws - effectively protect the poor.

Wowsers!  I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged!  Dignity Regained has picked up speed lately and it's very exciting.  I feel like I'm able to really focus some time on this endeavor and I hope you will all join me for the ride.  I'm so excited to begin sharing at special events and also being a part of some gift shows.  My passion is to spread the word about human trafficking ... and so that is what I hope is accomplished.  I recently came across this video from Trade As One.  Nathan George touches on some really great things:  Live Simply, Give Generously, Buy Ethically.  He explains so well why it's important to think about what we are spending, how we are spending and why we are spending our money.  We have power in our purchase.  It's a bit long, but I think it's worth watching.  And he's British, so he's fun to listen to :)  Enjoy.
Lindsay

Thanksgiving Sale!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I hope everyone had a great turkey day.  Marshall and I are up in the mountains for the weekend with family having a great time.  But just because we're away doesn't mean that we can't have a SALE!!  Don't be one of those crazy people who get up at 3:00am to go shopping.  Stay in your PJ's and shop online at www.dignityregained.com and get 15% off all day on Friday!!  Just enter the code, BKFRIDAY.  Also, you can save the rest of the weekend too!  Enter TGWEEKEND at check out and receive 10% off the rest of the weekend.  Give a gift for Christmas this year that has double blessing!

See you this weekend!

~Lindsay

Meet Grace Joe

 Part of our mission with Dignity Regained is to help educate people about the positive effect of fair trade.  I was really moved by the story of a woman I "met" as I was purchasing items for the store.  I thought you would like to hear her story too.

Meet Grace Joe.  Grace Joe is 44 and has been making beads for so long, she scratches her head, laughing, when she tries to remember how old she was when she became an apprentice. She thinks she started at 10, putting in the hours after mornings at school. But when she finally left school at 15, she didn't go into bead-making straight away. She had to raise money to buy the moulds, dyes, fire irons and other tools needed to make the beads. For nearly two years she was a street-seller, balancing on her head bowls of bread, peanuts, sugar and gari (similar in texture to couscous but made from ground cassava). It wasn't exactly plain sailing once she had enough money to start up her bead business. Grace's third pregnancy ended tragically and her doctor told her she couldn't do any heavy work. Despite the bead-making tradition in the Krobo region of Ghana, nobody else in her family had taken up the craft, but Grace says bead-making was her heart's desire, and she loves making things with her hands. She was determined to keep on working so she taught her brother the production process, and now he helps her with grinding up old glass bottles or window louvers, baking the beads and then shaping them, freeing up Grace to concentrate on the more delicate work of designing the complicated patterns. She has also passed on her knowledge to her daughter Gladys Adjimer, who has also joined Global Mamas, assembling beaded products.

Now Grace does most of her work for Global Mamas because she knows she will get paid on time. The money she earns helps to keep her nephew in school and covers the food bills for her son, who lives away from home and is training to be a mechanic. She is looking forward to being able to save money so she can build her own family home which will give her peace of mind, and set up a shop where she can sell her own beads directly to customers.

I truly think it's amazing that we can directly play a part in Grace Joe's life.  To know who made this jewelry, to hear her story, and to know I am making a difference in her life encourages me to press forward.  I hope her story was inspirational to you as well!

                 -Lindsay

DignityRegained.com

Fresh Faces, Fresh Passion

It has been an absolute pleasure to run Dignity Regained these past 4 years. Our loyal customers are amazing and the organizations we work with are doing wonderful things in the lives of women. I'm sad to step away from Dignity Regained as life is beginning to overflow a bit too much, but it brings me great joy to introduce the new leaders of Dignity Regained, the Partlow's. Lindsay and Marshall are a husband and wife team that will be running Dignity Regained from here on out. I'm so excited for this transition. They are a wonderful couple who love the Lord and have a fresh passion to abolish human trafficking. Keep your eyes peeled for great things to come from Dignity Regained. I asked Lindsay to tell us a little bit about how they reached this point. I'll let Lindsay's words take it from here. Much love, Tammy

"I’ve known about the issue of human trafficking for some time now.  I was really struck by the enormity of the issue after watching a documentary at a woman’s retreat in the Spring of 2010.  I knew God wanted me involved but wasn’t sure how.  I came home and told Marshall about the film and about my heart to be involved at a deeper level.  We began to get more involved locally, attending human trafficking task force meetings, doing more research, and talking to people about the issue.  Then, the opportunity opened up with Dignity Regained.

This is a worldwide issue, internationally, stateside, as well as locally.  It is such a huge issue, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.  But ... we can all do something and everything helps.  Dignity Regained has opened a door for us to not only be involved but also fight back.  We are so excited for the opportunity to help fight against human trafficking, help provide sustainability to those coming out of trafficking, educate others and provide others a very tangible way to get involved as well."

Marshall and Lindsay Partlow live in Colorado Springs, CO and have two little girls who constantly keep them humble and on their toes.  They also work at OC International, a missionary sending agency.

Biggest Sale Ever

It has been a bit stagnant lately at Dignity Regained as we have welcomed another member into our family. We are loving our little family of four! Now we are gearing up for another transition.

Many of you know that we are based out of Central Illinois. We are currently planning a move to North Carolina where we will be working with Wycliffe Bible Translators at their JAARS facility. I am unsure of what direction Dignity Regained will take after we move but I do know that I we will be selling our entire inventory at deep discounts. We'll be starting with an online sale and then have an open house in the near future. It's a good opportunity to get some great Fair Trade items on sale while still helping women around the world.

Tammy