Photo courtesy of Lisa Goin
Hope + Healing + Handmade is the passion project of Lauren Goin, a rising junior at Lake Highlands High School.
Goin has always enjoyed weaving friendship bracelets and used to make them for friends and family, but in April she started Hope + Healing + Handmade to make them for a greater cause— children in local hospitals.
Goin and her mother, Lisa, are both members of the National Charity League Lake Highlands (NCL). The mother-daughter involvement further inspired her to spend her free time making bracelets and giving back.
“I chose to give these bracelets to children in children’s hospitals because I know what they are going through is hard, and they are so brave and need to stay strong,” Lauren says. “I thought that hope and healing bracelets would be a way to lift their spirits and give to others, especially after going through COVID times.”
Lauren weaves the bracelets with either a heart bead in the center or patterns and puts them in packages of two. One bracelet is for the recipient to keep, the other is to give to a loved one or someone important.
Concerned that COVID restrictions at the hospitals would inhibit her from being able to give the packets to the children, Lauren researched ways to sterilize everything in case it was necessary. She thought through a lot of non-profit business challenges and how to obtain a 501c3 if her bracelets started to take off.
So far, the reception from hospitals has exceeded Lauren and Lisa’s expectations.
Initially, 30 packets of bracelets were requested from Medical City Children’s Hospital when Lauren reached out to their child life specialist, and she didn’t stop there. She spoke with a volunteer development officer at Scottish Rite Hospital, where they also requested 40 packets.
In total, the duo needed to deliver 140 bracelets, so Lauren got to work and enlisted the help of volunteers from NCL and Young Men’s Service League (YMSL) to make more bracelet packets.
Lauren Goin at Medical City Children’s Hospital. Photo courtesy of Lisa Goin
Lauren Goin and Mandi Velez. Photo courtesy of Lisa Goin
Yesterday, Lauren and Lisa delivered their first round of bracelets to Medical City Children’s and Scottish Rite hospitals.
Now that she’s filled these orders, she’s ready to reach out to other hospitals, including Children’s Hospital Dallas and other mental health facilities for children.
“Medical City and Scottish Rite also expressed that this first order is a tester order, and it goes well, they’d be open to more orders each quarter,” Lisa says. “Very exciting for Lauren to see her idea grow into reality.”
Lauren’s bracelets can be found at hopehealinghandmade on Instagram, and she encourages pictures and reviews at hopehealinghandmade@gmail.com.
