Statements

Mission

The International Sewing Club is a non-profit organization that seeks to follow the example of Jesus, loving others by meeting their physical and spiritual needs. We exist to serve immigrant and refugee women in Nashville by teaching the art of sewing in order to provide them with an economic skill, and by offering ourselves as friends in their new culture and helping them to develop reading comprehension, conversational, and math skills.

Background

The International Sewing Club began in 2010 as a grass-roots effort to enrich the lives of a small group of refugee women living in the Woodbine neighborhood of Nashville. The leadership is made up of women who are passionate about the art of sewing and impacting the lives of women from around the world. The original founders began teaching free sewing lessons in a small room to a group of three women. Word of this unique opportunity quickly spread within the local refugee community, and many women began showing up to the classroom with a desire to learn this new skill. The class quickly expanded and International Sewing Club, Inc. was founded in 2012, becoming an official Tennessee non-profit and achieving 501?3 tax exemption status. The International Sewing Club meets every week in the Woodbine neighborhood of Nashville. The organization was created out of the belief that if a woman has the opportunity to learn a new skill, she will put it to great use within her family and community. We offer a free sewing class to women who have come to the United States from another country and have faced challenges in adapting to language and culture. We exist to serve immigrant and refugee women in Nashville by teaching the art of sewing in order to provide them with an economic skill, and by offering ourselves as friends in their new culture and helping to develop reading comprehension, conversational, and math skills. Women earn their Sewing Club membership by completing four increasingly difficult sewing projects under the instruction of our volunteer teachers. Upon completion, they are presented with their very own sewing machine, at no cost, to take home and bring to future classes. We have found that learning to sew in this environment gives foreign born women a healthy social outlet, a boost to personal self-esteem, and an opportunity to strengthen necessary skills to succeed in our culture. The sewing club is a place where women can be themselves and not feel judged for their appearance, religious beliefs, or cultural differences. We share our experiences as women, wives, and mothers and find that although our backgrounds are very different, we are more alike than we ever would have expected! While International Sewing Club is not directly associated with any religious denomination, our mission is to follow the example of Jesus, loving others by meeting their physical and spiritual needs. Our volunteer pool is made up of faithful women from many different backgrounds who are united in the love and teachings of Jesus. We do not proselytize, but instead we share the love of Jesus through the character and conduct of our volunteers and through our words of testimony.

Impact

The growth of Tennessee's foreign-born population and the opportunities and challenges this has presented for newcomers and the state have brought Tennessee into the national spotlight in the past decade. We are home to thousands of refugees, many of whom came fleeing war, famine and persecution in Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Non-citizen, foreign-born residents of Nashville are two times more likely than Nashville natives to be poor. One-third of Nashville's foreign-born residents, especially those who are ages 18-64, are found to be "linguistically isolated," meaning they live in households where no member over the age of fourteen speaks English very well. Many of the women of Nashville's refugee community face special challenges due to their culture. Lack of transportation, poor language skills, and cultural separation of males and females in social situations leave many women isolated in their homes and unable to integrate into our society. The fact that International Sewing Club is a women-only sewing class offers these individuals a unique opportunity to get out and meet new people while still respecting there culture and religious beliefs. They return from the weekly sewing class with new skills to help their families, gaining new respect from their husbands and children, and an increased feeling of self-worth. Since its formation, the International Sewing Club has given away dozens of free sewing machines and impacted the lives of countless women. Our current classroom accommodates as many as ten students at a time and is made up of a constant rotation of participants. Every woman who connects with our program receives benefits whether she follows through to completion or not. Participants are also given the opportunity to earn extra money by sewing for their communities or making and selling items at local festivals under tents sponsored by ISC. Perhaps the most important impact of ISC is the bonds created between women from completely different cultures and backgrounds. The sewing club is a place where we learn not to fear others for their differences. Bridges are built between cultures and religions with the building blocks of friendship and a special love for sewing. It is our hope that the following year will provide us with the space, volunteers, and finances to further expand our sewing class and touch the lives of many more foreign-born women in Nashville. We are specifically hoping to further expand our English tutoring program and provide childcare during our sewing class for those in need.

Needs

International Sewing Club relies completely on monetary donations and donated supplies to keep our sewing class operating. Our greatest needs are for the following: Funds to sponsor students as they work towards their membership. It only costs $150 to provide a woman with everything she needs to complete our program, including her beginning sewing kit, new sewing scissors, and a new sewing machine upon completion. The more sponsorship donations we receive, the more participants we can accept into our program.Funds to repair and maintain classroom sewing machines for the use of our new students that are working towards their free machine. The cost to repair and tune-up an old machine averages about $75 each.Funds for classroom supplies, including fabric, thread, needles, fusible interfacing, etc. We estimate that this will cost up to $500 this year.Fabric donations in the form of pieces measuring at least two yards or more in length. Our greatest need is for black dress fabric, flannel fabric for pajamas, and bottom-weight fabrics in school uniform colors navy, kaki, or black.Portable sewing machines in good working order, including power cords and foot pedals.

Service Categories
Primary Category:	Arts, Culture & Humanities  - Arts Education
Secondary Category:	Human Services  - Ethnic/Immigrant Services
Tertiary Category:	Education  - Adult Education

Areas Served

TN - Davidson