Fair trade boutique changing lives

Edmonds shoppers hold the ability to change the world with their purse strings. That powerful message is the cornerstone of Fabric of Life Boutique on Main Street.

Within the shop is an array of handcrafted, one-of-a-kind originals, ranging from baskets and bags to jewelry and place mats. The difference here is that power shopping holds its own might.

“It’s not so much about the products, as it is the stories behind the products,” said Carol Schillios, president of the Schillios Development Foundation, a nonprofit organization that runs the boutique. “It is also about what we can do with our financial wealth to support life. When you buy a bag from Mali, you support a young woman changing her life. We buy at a fair price and give a fair wage. Then the proceeds go back to our projects.”

One of these projects is a school for street girls in the West African Republic of Mali. Stunned by the poverty that surounded her there, Schillios was determined to break the cycle of poverty. She pooled resources with a like-minded Malian colleague and started a day school for street girls. The first 10 girls completed the 18-month fast-track course in 2007, learning traditional Malian beading, sewing and fabric dying in addition to literacy, health and nutrition.

Following a series of “garage sales” that sold the girls’ handicrafts, the boutique — located in a former yarn store — was tested over a couple of weekends before officially opening last November. Some store fixtures were built by friends, others were found at garage sales. Writers and artists donated their talents to develop the Web site, www.schillios.com, and create an e-commerce space.

The boutique is operated by a multi-generational group of 30 volunteers. The day of the Enterprise’s visit, a volunteer-hopeful came in the door asking for shifts to fill.

“The owner of the building gave us an amazing break on the rent,” Schillios added.

In its first two months, the boutique was able to turn over $13,000 to the Schillios Development Foundation to go toward its projects, which also include micro-lending efforts in Zimbabwe, Senegal and Vietnam.

Sparking the idea for the foundation and then the boutique was a discomfort Schillios felt following a 25-year career in micro-financing in developing countries.

“We need to show respect and honor for the local richness already existing in these countries,” she said. “It’s not all about us. We need to discover the resources these countries already have. Development is not charity. We are blessed with stuff. They are blessed with other riches, like relationships. We can learn a lot from developing countries when it comes to collaboration and cooperation.”

The foundation puts the vast majority of donations it receives into its programs and aims to act quickly without creating a lot of red tape. “A polio center in Cameroon needed a camera and a computer so we gave them $1,000,” Schillios said. “The foundation is about seeing a need and responding.”