The Dallas-based 2000 Roses Foundation started out 17 years as an organization that provided women returning to the community from incarceration with transitional housing. But Kelly Wiley and Alonzo Harris, the founders, had a vision to aid the formerly incarcerated women in other ways.
The foundation also teaches the women to make organic scented candles, jewelry and tie dyed scarves, along with other items which are sold in the 2000 Roses Foundation’s retail store, The Rose Garden. The training that the Foundation provides encourages the women to become entrepreneurs, paving the way for them to support themselves and their families.
The Rose Garden also promotes recycling. Abandoned items that find their way into The Rose Garden are often used to create bold, new goods for sale.
Kelly and Harris know firsthand the obstacles reentrants face. They were criminal justice-involved once, and have moved on to become role models for those who find themselves taking advantage of what the 2000 Roses Foundation has to offer. Believing that the women can achieve successful reintegration back into the community, Kelly and Harris lead by example.
The Foundation has begun a new venture to teach more skills to reintegrating women—landscaping. Traditionally landscaping has been dominated by males, but Kelly and Harris are encouraging women to think outside the box and enter a field that will teach them how to provide quality lawn services, plant and sell flowers, create private and community gardens, and obtain a slice of the landscaping pie by subcontracting with larger landscaping businesses.
Read more about the 2000 Roses Foundation and how they are helping reintegrating women and the community here.
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