In December 2009, Dell and Renae purchased a home in the village of Simonette and, in 2011, founded Touch of Hope, a nonprofit ministry allowing them to become more involved in the village and surrounding area. Dell previously operated a feed yard outside of Rock Rapids and Renae did freelance home décor services while raising their three children. Webert’s school grew from 30 to 80 students between 2006 and 2010. Touch of Hope’s first big goal was to raise enough money to construct a new school building and provide the funds to pay teachers. The school has grown exponentially in the past 12 years and now has more than 1,000 students and 80 teachers. Since then, the ministry has helped raise the roof on seven school buildings, a cafeteria and an office building. After graduating from the University of Northern Iowa in 2012, Kayla Grooters moved to Haiti to help at the school. She quickly discovered too many of the children were arriving at school hungry. Instead of seeking a source of food donations, Kayla focused instead on job creation and income generation for “mamas.” “Our whole philosophy focuses on how can we strengthen the family unit in the most holistic way. If mom has a job, the odds of her being able to feed the kids and keep them in school are much higher.” After moving to Haiti, Kayla worked for a jewelry store. She connected the dots between Touch of Hope ministries and her jewelry experience and the talents of some women in local Haitian communities. In 2014, she opened a store named Rosie’s in Cabaret, Haiti. Two years later, her mom opened a Rosie’s Boutique in Rock Rapids. Dell and Renae recently purchased the building at the corner of Highway 9 and North Story Street. The main level is Rosie’s gift and coffee shop and they have an apartment in the upper level. (The store was named in honor Rosie, Kayla’s first goddaughter in Haiti whose mother was a jewelry artisan with whom Kayla worked. Rosie died from pneumonia when she was 13 months old.)
The Raymond family: Loveson, Webert, Zion, Rubie, Kayla, Josiah, Jephte, Wishla.
Rosie’s directly employs 30 women who hand-stitch greeting cards and make banana-paper products. Kayla said intentional buying decisions truly make a difference. “If more people purchased the greeting cards we sell online and in our store, we could go from employing 30 women to maybe 100 women – which would affect 1,000 children. It all has ripple effects.”
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While civil unrest forced the original shop in Haiti to close, Rosie's Boutique and coffee shop in Rock Rapids is thriving, as are online sales at www.rosiesboutiquehaiti.com. EMPOWERING THE ARTISANS Rosie’s purchases product from 10 different companies who collectively employ over 400 Haitians. Kayla said, “Each company believes and practices the same ethics we have: Provide a fair, living wage to the artisan; empower and equip the artisan; educate people about the realities in Haiti; and work to keep families together.”
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July 2022 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine
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