YMCA’s RISE partners with Piedmont Opera to empower immigrant
entrepreneurs
Triad City Beat
MARCH 17TH, 2022
The whir of sewing machines cushions melodic
laughter and mumbled, feminine tones in a series of interconnected rooms at the
back of Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem every
Wednesday morning.
White, wood cubbies reaching towards the ceiling above a long
counter face the two dozen busy fingers. Each cube stores the brightly colored
bits of an in-progress textile project. A neatly printed black-and-white label
across the bottom of every square bears a name originating from somewhere far
away: Burma, Honduras, Mexico, South Korea, Venezuela, France, China, Colombia,
Afghanistan.
Its purpose :
The women in these light-filled rooms are all non-native English speakers, here to grow their entrepreneurial capabilities through the YMCA’s Refugee & Immigrant Society of Entrepreneurs (RISE) program. The program grew largely out of the needs of Burmese immigrants who wanted to learn new textile skills.
Prior to the pandemic, the group sold many of its wares at craft
fairs in the area. Participants worked with staff and volunteers to practice
their English with customers, besides learning inventory and sales skills. As
the world knits itself back together with in-person events, the program hopes
to have these entrepreneurs behind the booth again, rather than selling only
online or through custom orders.
Arts organizations were also forced to pivot during the pandemic,
opening opportunities to think about community in a different way. During those
discussions, staff at Piedmont Opera brought the idea of community partnerships
to the opera board. That led to a themed collaboration alongside Cinderella last year —
working with the Salvation Army to collect shoes for individuals in need. With its new
production of Ragtime opening this
weekend, Piedmont Opera sought out an organization which highlighted immigrant
and refugee populations.
The Importance of the Partnership:
Piedmont Opera board member Jill Stricklin worked closely with
Literacy Program Director Ellen Gallimore to find a way to meaningfully support
RISE. “Most of our fabric and supplies are donated,” Gallimore says.
To facilitate appropriate donations, Gallimore
and her team created
an Amazon wishlist to promote through Ragtime.
The show centers on the intertwining lives of three diverse
communities, represented by three New York City stories — a wealthy white
couple from New Rochelle, a Black woman and the Harlem musician she loves, and
an immigrant Jewish father and his young daughter in the Lower East Side. The
Tony award-winning musical, based on the acclaimed novel by EL Doctorow,
presents a powerful narrative of immigration and intersection, of extreme
social and economic disparity.
The Triad itself is home to a rich and diverse immigrant
community. According to the 2020 Census, more than 8 percent of the population
of Forsyth County was born outside of the United States. It’s more than 10
percent in Guilford County.
The Importance of the Program:
Women like Kudu Julietaw, who came from Burma years ago and has
been attending Wednesday meetings since early in the program, generally make
their way into RISE through its parent literacy program at the YMCA.
Right now, the group enthusiastically works to fill a custom order
of Easter crafts: fluffy, sewn baskets and stuffed carrots with smirking faces.
In the past, participants created intricate Christmas ornaments, embroidered
books, patterned market bags and more. Though the items stitched together are
often whimsical, the entrepreneurial education gives these women a substantive
way to develop transferable skills.
Beside an ironing board in the workroom are two tables spread with
a variety of brand-new sewing supplies that have just arrived from Amazon:
rulers, rotary cutters, packages of clips, notions, and two large empty boxes.
In the room next door, the immigrant entrepreneurs of RISE whizz across fabric
on a pair of newly donated sewing machines.
“After I came to the RISE program, I can now sew and crochet,”
Kudu Julietaw says. “Now I have a part-time job, but if I still have time, I’ll
come to class.”
Participants attend RISE according to their schedules, but free
on-site childcare allows parents to join when they have small children in tow.
Seated in a sunny spot among the piles of material, Julietaw’s
fingers expertly stitch wide button eyes onto the face of a carrot sewn out of
bold calico fabric.
RISE is designed to teach skills, but also to give earnings
directly back to members. For most projects, materials are donated, putting
sales proceeds into the hands of women like Julietaw. In the five years since
its inception, many participants have gone on to gain full-time employment;
some have bought their own homes.
The program currently has 15 members, but its space at Wesley
Memorial can accommodate more people, and that’s a definite goal for Gallimore
as she continues to promote the program. “I cannot thank the opera enough,”
Gallimore says. “It makes such a difference for us.”
Learn more about RISE at ymcanwnc.org/community/literacy/rise. Ragtime opens
at Piedmont Opera on March 18 at the Stevens Center in Winston Salem.
https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/sbs/downloads/pdf/about/reports/ibi_report.pdf
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