The Gifted Co.’s mission is in our name. “Gifted” stands for “Giving Individuals Freedom Through Enterprise and Dignity.” For the past 6 years, we have been providing meals for those experiencing homelessness and food insecure individuals and families and we wanted to do more.
Our company was born out of the desire to help break the cycle of homelessness, poverty, and addiction. We have found that those that are chronically homeless often suffer from debilitating feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness and our desire is to help these members of the Greensboro, NC community — people we have come to know as friends—rediscover their worth.
How did it start? Five years ago, a few swatch books of fabric were donated to us. We began creating products such as aprons, tote bags, etc. for fundraising to help us provide meals. This got us to think about how we could expand on this idea to create jobs and sustainability in lives as well as our environment.
Recycling these new, high-quality fabrics keep them out of landfills and remaking the fabric into beautiful and useful items brings new purpose to lives. Our first brand, “Sew & Reap Handcrafted” creates products primarily from textile company samples and donated fabrics. We train homeless/formerly homeless, those coming out of drug and alcohol treatment and underemployed individuals how to sew, giving them new job skills and a new lease on life. We also work with a group of amazing and dedicated volunteers as well as our talented design team.
By purchasing our products, you not only get a beautiful one-of-a-kind piece to enjoy for years to come, you help to sponsor hope, freedom from homelessness and a higher quality of life for all who live and work in Greensboro.
Come to learn more about what we do, see the beautiful products we produce and even try your hand at sewing! We will bring along some sewing machines and fabrics to make a simple tote bag!