BEELOVE beelove® cleanse & refresh amenity lathering shower gel is a mild, allnatural body cleanser that produces a rich and silky lather. Featuring saponified organic coconut, olive and jojoba oil, glycerin/vegetable gum extract, as well as organic aloe vera and rosemary extract, its secret ingredient is honey from Sweet Beginnings LLC hives in and around Chicago, and the signature beelove® scent. Introduce yourself to this skin care experience with the Pure Necessities Collection ($17), which includes lip balm and all-natural amenity body lotion. Comprised of distilled water, shea butter, hydrolyzed silk protein, wheat germ oil, meadowfoam seed oil, avocado oil, rosehip oil, grapeseed oil, coconut oil, aloe, vitamin E, signature beelove® scent and more, this lotion can be applied as often as needed to moisturize dry and sensitive skin. Sweet Beginnings, LLC is a sustainable social enterprise, a wholly owned subsidiary of the North Lawndale Employment Network (NLEN) that promotes a unique product and a solution to overcrowded prisons. Sweet Beginnings offers full-time transitional jobs to citizens returning from incarceration in a green industry: the production and sale of all-natural skin care products featuring its own urban honey. The company manages apiaries (bee farms) in North Lawndale, at O’Hare International Airport, Roosevelt University Schaumburg campus and the Forest Preserve District of Cook County Trailside Museum.
kin care Sweet Beginnings workers harvest honey, make beelove® products, fill product orders, package and ship them, track inventory, sell at retail outlets such as Mariano’s and Whole Foods and perform quality control. These transitional jobs require all the qualities they would need in a permanent job, including punctuality, workplace etiquette, interpersonal communication and how to work effectively on a team.
Since 2008, Sweet Beginnings has employed more than 500 men and women committed to turning their lives around. While the recidivism rate nationally is 40 percent and the Illinois average is 55 percent, the rate for former Sweet Beginnings employees is below 8 percent. The Sweet Beginnings team is buzzing with excitement about the holiday season. Starting October 5, they have been onsite for production, order fulfillment and shipping weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the potential to adjust if the City of Chicago moves back a phase due to COVID-19. You can place orders at beelovebuzz.com/collections/all Upon checkout, you can even select 3-4 p.m. curbside pickup at present.
Jewelry jushshop
Jushshop is run by a Midwest Girl who always loved shopping for herself at flea markets and estate sales. Now she sells affordable jewelry (much of it in the $20 range) that shout where you’re from: Chicago flag cut-outs, 815, UpNorthIntheWoods, Michigan, Great Lakes, Mountains. Or maybe you prefer a turquoise, opal or rainbow bar necklace or symbols like keys, arrows, crescent moons. There are even face masks, because, as Midwest Girl reasons, if we have to wear them, at least they should be in fun fabrics like camo, tie-dye and leopard. Jushshop.com www.streetwise.org
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