The nonprofit organization was founded by Diana Wiley in 2007 and now partners with churches, organizations and leadership in northern Rwanda to provide more than 200 women with sustainable employment, community and spiritual counsel.
Handspun Hope owns a sheep farm in Rwanda where local women are given jobs creating yarn and have access to support resources, financial training and more, said Carly Oosten, director of operations.
Research conducted in surrounding regions suggest that access to sustainable employment and support are integral in building strong communities, Oosten said.
“Once women are empowered and they thrive, whole communities thrive,” Oosten said. “So from this office, we help kind of oversee and guide our Rwandan team. They're entirely Rwandan-led there on the ground, but we help kind of guide and oversee that, as well as production needs for all of our different wholesale customers.”
In early 2020, the organization relocated its headquarters and showroom from San Marcos to New Braunfels and continued selling products online and to wholesale and boutique businesses around the country.
Wiley and her team briefly opened the showroom in New Braunfels but closed temporarily due to the coronavirus pandemic before reopening this month.
The storefront sells fair trade gifts, clothing, home goods and more made by the women employed by Handspun Hope as well as other artisans from the region.
“Every single one of our vendors that we work with has been vetted by the Fair Trade [Federation] that we paid fair wages, and we're really committed to honoring and serving the different artisan groups that we work with,” Oosten said.
The showroom is open Monday-Friday from 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m., or customers can shop online and learn more about the organization at www.handspunhope.org.
