Creating for a Cause

Products to benefit:

• The ALS Association Iowa Chapter
  See my blog post Cards to help fight ALS for information on “Family and Friends: Cards to support The ALS Association Iowa Chapter,” a set of notecards to raise money for the Association’s services and research programs. The cards and the pouch they’re bundled in have images from my watercolor paintings showing scenes from the daily lives of people using wheelchairs.
     
• Clubfoot Solutions
  

     
  An illustration from the book “Lucky’s Feet”

  My blog posts Lucky’s Feet and Thankful tell about the Ponseti Method of non-surgical treatment of clubfoot, which the non-profit Clubfoot Solutions helps bring to children everywhere. The book “Lucky’s Feet” (featuring my illustrations!) is based on the story of a boy whose life was changed by the treatment, and you can buy it from the Shop on their website. 100% of profits from the sale of this book go to Clubfoot Solutions.

• Dorothy’s House
  

  One of the designs for cards
  to benefit Dorothy’s House

  My blog post Cards to benefit Dorothy’s House tells about this set of four notecards with Des Moines-area scenes featuring words that exemplify the mission of Dorothy’s House, “”a safe place for survivors of human trafficking, exploitation and prostitution to discover their healing journeys through the practice of life.”

  At right, one of the paintings used for the cards features the word “Hope” in this scene of flying kites along the riverfront.

• Lila Mae’s House
  Products for sale (details below on this page):
  • Notecards
  • Scarves
  • Bags
  More information:
  • How I got involved

  I developed this special collection of products, featuring images from my artwork, to promote awareness and to raise money for organizations working against human trafficking (link is to information from the National Human Trafficking Hotline). Proceeds from the sale of items in this collection currently go to Lila Mae’s House, a project started by Franciscan Sister Shirley Fineran with the goal of creating a “place of healing” for trafficking survivors. Contact me (email jomyerswalker@gmail.com) if you’re interested in any of the products!

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Notecards to benefit Lila Mae’s House

Notecards with envelopes, bundled in a hand-painted pouch (pouches painted by me or by my able assistants!). Each card has a message on the back for contemplation and is blank inside for your writing.

• Canticle of Creation, set of 8 notecards:  Each card highlights a symbol from the three-dimensional Canticle of Creation acrylic sculpture I made in 2017 for the Sisters of St. Francis in Dubuque (inspired by St. Francis’s well-known Canticle and the stories told of his life). Bundled in a pouch representing the Portiuncula chapel restored by St. Francis.
See:  Cards for contemplation (blog post)
   
• Abundant Homes, set of 9 notecards:  Each card has an image from one of my watercolor paintings on the front. Bundled in a house-shaped pouch.
See:  An abundance of notecards (blog post)

Proceeds from the sale of these cards currently go to the Lila Mae’s House project with the goal of creating a “place of healing” for trafficking survivors. Contact me (email jomyerswalker@gmail.com) if you’re interested in the card sets!

(See also my blog post Cards to help fight ALS for information on “Family and Friends: Cards to support The ALS Association Iowa Chapter,” a separate set of notecards to raise money for that Association’s services and research programs.)

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Scarves to benefit Lila Mae’s House

Polyester Crêpe de Chine scarves, approx. 17″ x 72″, digitally printed with images from the Abundant Homes paintings or the Canticle of Creation sculpture. An image is mirrored and repeated along the fabric, with the starting point of the design varying from scarf to scarf. The edges are finished with serging done by volunteer faithful believers in the Lila Mae’s House project. The scarves are modeled below by artists from my watercolor class — click for a closer look at a style! Many thanks to photographer Susan H.

Proceeds from the sale of these scarves currently go to the Lila Mae’s House project with the goal of creating a “place of healing” for trafficking survivors. Contact me (email jomyerswalker@gmail.com) if you’re interested in any of the scarves!

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Bags to benefit Lila Mae’s House

Polyester tote bags, approx. 18″ x 18″, digitally printed with images from the Abundant Homes paintings or the Canticle of Creation sculpture. Both sides of each bag have the same image.

Proceeds from the sale of these bags currently go to the Lila Mae’s House project with the goal of creating a “place of healing” for trafficking survivors. Contact me (email jomyerswalker@gmail.com) if you’re interested in any of the bags!

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How I got involved

Franciscans strive to live out the social justice values of the dignity of all people, care of creation, peace and justice. Through my involvement as a Franciscan Associate and with other organizations concerned with social justice, I have been learning about the growing problem of human trafficking. According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline,

“Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. This crime occurs when a trafficker uses force, fraud or coercion to control another person for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts or soliciting labor or services against his/her will.”

I felt moved to find ways to work against this injustice, and created a special collection featuring images from my artwork to promote awareness and to raise money for organizations working against human trafficking.

Proceeds from the sale of items in this collection currently go to Lila Mae’s House, a project started by Franciscan Sister Shirley Fineran with the goal of creating a “place of healing” for trafficking survivors.

• Lila Mae’s House website
• River to River episode about human trafficking from Iowa Public Radio (article and podcast). Sister Shirley Fineran, founder of Lila Mae’s House, is one of the guests, along with a survivor of human trafficking and a former investigator.

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