Woman is on her roof to raise $1 million

EDMONDS

Carol Schillios has cleared her schedule and her refrigerator. Her friends know not to call the house, but to check her mailbox every few days.

Schillios may not be home for months.

On July 31 she moved up. Up a tall, metal ladder. Up to a flat, gray rooftop.

And that’s where she’ll stay, for who knows how long.

Schillios isn’t coming down from the roof of her Edmonds store until a million people have donated a dollar to aid humanitarian efforts and pledged to do one thing to help make the world a better place.

The 57-year-old might still be on the roof when fall rain showers roll in, bringing cold weather. But just try to convince a woman used to teakettle baths in Africa that she should worry about the weather forecast. It isn’t easy.

“I want to prove that one million people will send me $1 to fund a variety of things,” she said. “I believe people need inspiration to stand up for what they already know.”

Schillios is the founder of Fabric of Life, a nonprofit organization devoted to assisting poverty-stricken women in developing countries. The volunteer-staffed storefront in downtown Edmonds sells woven fabrics and jewelry made by participants in the organization’s training programs.

Schillios wants to raise $1 million for Fabric of Life to invest in development programs. She took to the roof July 31, but www.upontheroofwithcarol.org, which features a video blog that will be updated throughout Schillios’ stay on the roof, had already logged more than $1,400 in donations.

Since the idea was born two months ago, about 60 volunteers have contributed to readying Schillios’ makeshift campground atop her Main Street store. Someone donated a white canopy to shield her from the sun. A personal trainer from an Edmonds gym plans to visit regularly to help her exercise.

While Schillios is on the roof, her bedroom will be a tent on a particleboard platform, and her bed will be a foam pad. Her bathroom will be another tent, housing a camper-style toilet. She’ll bathe during the night using solar-heated water from a portable sun shower.

The next several months will likely be personally transformative, Schillios said earlier this week, stooping to show off her tiny nylon-domed sleeping quarters.

“It’ll be like a cocoon,” she said. “A metamorphosis will be happening.”

She’ll have wireless Internet, and plans to do some personal writing — maybe even a book. And she’ll keep up with drum classes the store hosts; she’ll simply sit close to the roof’s edge and participate from 20 feet above the other students.

Even if fundraising takes off faster than expected and her $1 million goal is reached in days or weeks, Schillios isn’t coming down for at least 30 days.

“I don’t want a philanthropist to hand me a million dollars,” she said. “That’s not the only thing this is about.”

She added: “This is about inspiring people, no matter where in the world, that anything is possible. That one person can make a difference.”

Amy Rolph writes for the Everett Herald. Read her small-business blog at www.heraldnet.com/TheStorefront. Contact her at 425-339-3029 or arolph@heraldnet.com.