Scented candles make great gifts for the holidays. Our Bright Futures Candles have the added benefit of enabling young mothers and their children the chance to build a brighter future.
Bright Futures Candles was created by Home Start as an additional way to generate employment for women in our Maternity Housing Program. We’re also investing in their futures through teaching resume-building skills. 2020 was a difficult year, but the social enterprise continues to grow under our new supervisor of the program, Alex Arroyo. Alex oversees candle production and childcare needs for employees.
We caught up with Alex to ask her how she sees the future of Bright Futures Candles evolving and what we can expect in 2021!
Hi Alex. Tell us your overall vision for Bright Futures.
My vision for Bright Futures this coming year is to build it into a program that provides a job for our women and an opportunity for growth and development. Throughout their time at BFC, we will be applying a skills assessment so that once they are ready for their next challenge, they have a document of their success to take with them into their future careers.
“With the help of the artisans, I look forward to continuing the expansion of Bright Futures Candles and building the product line.”
What do you hope the women take away from their work here?
My desire is that they see what it means to run a small business and have the opportunity to learn not only how to make candles but develop other skills such as marketing, customer service, and product development.
For many of our artisans, this will be their first job It is my hope that they look back on their time at Bright Futures and remember an experience full of positivity and personal growth.
What other goals do you have for 2021?
We are also working hard to build a child development program as part of Bright Futures. One of the obstacles facing young, single mothers in finding work is the lack of available childcare. It is our hope to remove this barrier for our artisans. Like Bright Futures Candles, I hope that the childcare facility will be a space that promotes learning and development. The program will be run under a research-based curriculum focused on supporting all development areas for young children. Our teachers will encourage growth and advocate for any services the children and their mothers may need outside of our program.
This is all very exciting, and we love the work you’re doing. Thank you for sharing with us.
Give a gift that gives back.
Bright Futures offers a wide range of scents and sizes available at brightfuturescandles.com, including our latest Holiday Vibes. We’re also happy to announce our newly released hand sanitizer created in partnership with a local distillery to meet the pandemic’s needs. And, coming soon, we’ll be offering limited-edition customizable gift sets for the season! Is your business looking for a holiday gift that shows you care? We offer wholesale discounts for larger orders.