If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the numbers of families fleeing war-torn countries and arriving in Dallas with nothing but the clothes on their backs, if you’ve ever felt uncertain about how your family could possibly make a difference, take heart. Vickery Trading Company is changing lives, one refugee at time.
Vickery Trading Company is the brain child of Lake Highlands resident Stephanie Giddens, a world-traveling do-gooder horrified by human trafficking and exploitation. She recognized, she said, the “freedom that dignified work affords the human soul” and realized that she “didn’t need a passport, or to live 8 time zones ahead, to empower the vulnerable.” When her church, Northwest Bible, began working with refugees in Vickery Meadows, she and her husband, Brad, jumped in.
Soon, Stephanie envisioned a non-profit business selling bright, adorable girls’ dresses. Refugee women create and sew the designs while receiving a fair wage, employment training and cultural assimilation.
The workshop is located at the new Northwest Community Center, just west of Lake Highlands.
If you’d like to participate, Vickery Trading can use your help in many ways. You may purchase their designs online and give them for gifts make a straight-up donation here. You may also volunteer as a mentor in marketing, accounting, sewing or other fields, or you can work in child care for the women while they create and sew the dresses. You can also like them on Facebook, simply to follow their progress.