Female N.J. ex-cons give back through jewelry-making
Screenshot of Same Sky's online catalog of jewelry.
A nonprofit organization that provides jobs to poor women in Africa has brought its model to women transitioning out of incarceration in the U.S.
Same Sky was founded five years ago to help women in Rwanda who were left destitute after the 1994 civil war.
Same Sky America is a pilot expansion started this year for women trying to rebuild their lives after serving sentences at the Hudson County Correctional Center in New Jersey.
The women hand-bead bracelets and necklaces and earn money for their work. The organization then sells the jewelry online and in stores, with the net profits going to help the women in Rwanda.
The jewelry is for sale at www.samesky.com and at a Newport Centre kiosk in Jersey City from Dec. 13 to Dec. 15.
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