Beading The Odds: What A Difference One Person Can Make!

Judith Ashley is the author of The Sacred Women's Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual traditions that nurture the soul.

Beading The Odds is the inspiration of a friend of mine, Juanita Garnow. After retirement, Ms. Garnow made the decision to become a volunteer. She has always been a strong supporter of animals, having at least two dogs as pets at any one point in time. 

Initially she volunteered with Project Pooch, a non-profit group that rescues abandoned and abused dogs and works with Oregon’s Juvenile Justice system. Young men at McClaren School for Boys apply for the opportunity to have a dog assigned to them. These young men are responsible for the care and training of their dog. Upon ‘graduation’, the dogs are adopted by vetted families. This program’s impact on young men has been profound. Less than 1% of the youth involved in Project Pooch have reoffended.

However, as awesome as Project Pooch is, that program isn’t what this post is about.

Through her volunteering with Project Pooch, Ms. Garnow learned there were youth at McClaren who self-identified as Native Americans. She offered to teach them beading techniques so they could connect at a different level to their heritage.

That’s how Beading The Odds came into being. Ms. Garnow single-handedly has raised money to purchase supplies, garnered donations of beads and equipment, invited other beaders to join her on Sundays when she meets with these young men and teaches and encourages and supports them in their work. She also takes their finished projects and sets up tables at various functions in order to sell the necklaces, bracelets and earrings the youth create.

Recently, Ms. Garnow had a table at The Gathering of the Guilds, a large event where members of various craft guilds sell their wares. Although there were a couple of other people who helped out, for the most part it was Ms. Garnow selling the items. Over the weekend of The Gathering of the Guilds, Ms. Garnow work brought in just under $1,000.00 in sales and donations. These funds go directly into accounts the youth have at McClaren. All of Ms. Garnow’s time, effort, energy, enthusiasm and encouragement are donated.

Last year, while selling at The Gathering of the Guilds, a woman from Washington state stopped by. She was excited to see if she could get this type of program started in her state.

What I’m excited about is hearing the stories of the changes these young men are making as they find someone who is committed to them learning a new skill, something that they can use to help support themselves when they are released or that they can use to make gifts for family members and friends. Underneath it all, they know that Ms. Garnow is there because she cares about them as individual young people.

She is a volunteer and receives no remuneration for her time. Her payment is seeing them gain new skills, grow in confidence in using those skills, become thoughtful about how these skills can fit into their life after release. Sunday night or sometime on Monday we talk. I hear the exuberance in her voice as she tells me how her time teaching the art of beading to these young men fills her heart. The joy and happiness she feels infuses her words and wraps around me. When we part, I’m uplifted because I know that her work makes a huge difference in the lives of each of the 12 young men currently in Beading The Odds. I’m not surprised this is one of the most popular programs offered and that there is a waiting list.

If you are interested in learning more about Beading The Odds, donating material, or making a contribution, please contact me at JudithAshley@comcast.net and I’ll forward your email to Ms. Garnow. 

You can learn more about The Sacred Women’s Circle series on my website.

Check out my Windtree Press author page.

Follow me on Twitter: @JudithAshley19

I’m also on Facebook

© 2016 Judith Ashley