Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tammy Thomas. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Tammy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
The most meaningful project I have ever worked on was creating crocheted dolls for cancer patient survivors. I crochet for other causes, but none are more important to me than making a person that is going through so much pain, feel loved and needed. During COVID, I had so many friends that were going through treatment for cancer and I could not visit. I had to let them know that they were on my mind so I started crocheting dolls that looked like them and sent them with a note to tell them how much they were missed and that they had the strength to persevere. When we returned to school (I am a teacher), we all received devastating news that our dear friend was about to go through the struggles of cancer. I was so disturbed by this that I started making blankets and dolls to give to those educators that needed comfort. I have continued making the dolls and now I am trying to expand to the hospitals for little girls that need the same love and comfort with a doll that looks like them.
Tammy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Here is a little bit about me. I was born in Dallas, Texas in 1968. I was raised in a single parent household, but I was raised by a network of family and friends. I graduated high school from Government and Law Magnet in Dallas. I attended college at Texas College in Tyler, Texas and graduated with a degree in Political Science /Pre-Law in 1991. I worked for the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department until I had an accident that changed my life. I was in a coma and paralyzed for eight months. While I was paralyzed, my grandmother would use my hands to learn how to crochet. After my grandmother’s death from diabetes, I decided that she should be remembered for the traditions that she had passed on to her children and grandchildren. At first, I used the gift that my grandmother had bestowed on me as a coping mechanism to get over my lose. I crocheted so much, that I did not know what to do with it all. I was told by many to sale them and make money, but I knew that was not what my grandmother would have wanted. I took the hats and scarves that I crocheted to homeless shelters, women shelter and passed them out during Race for the Cure and other events.
I was concerned about all the grocery bags that I saw floating through the streets and in trees. I decided to find a use for them. I started researching what I could make to repurpose some of the bags, and I started making mats to pass out to the homeless. Other organizations started doing the same project and we saturated the homeless populations with mats that were left all over the streets of Dallas. I went back to the drawing board, and I discovered that the homeless always needed hygiene products and something to carry them in. I developed a backpack made from recycled grocery bags and filled them with hygiene products.
To get funding to help keep this project going along with making dolls and blankets for other causes, I solicit donations and use ten percent of my earnings from teaching.
What sets me apart from other crochet nonprofits in Texas is that my whole intention is to make people feel loved and that no matter what circumstances, I will continue to push my grandmother’s traditions and sense of giving on to other generations.
I cannot choose which one I am most proud of because they all mean so much to me. But there are two that I am especially proud of. I am most proud of the dolls that I make for cancer survivors and the grocery bags that I keep out of land fills by creating backpacks for the homeless. I want the people that receive my dolls, backpacks and other crocheted items to know that every stitch is crafted with love and that each stitch is made to save lives.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being a crafter is that the products I create will be passed down from generation to generation. It will be the centerpiece of every story that is passed on about the person that I made it for. The pieces that I make will tell the struggle of the person and how they persevered to become successful. Sometimes I look at it and want to give up because of financing, time constraints or negativity surrounding me, but I keep going. The reward is not just for me, but for others that grow from my gifts.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Sometimes I feel like I am all alone and that what I do for others is done in vain. In the beginning, when I did not have a vision or mission, it was easy to pass out items for free and disregard financing, my time or people saying, “Why are you giving it away? That is so dumb!”, but I kept going. One day I was down to my last dime because I had been released because of federal funding from my position at school. I did not know what I was going to do. I looked back at all the money I put into nonprofit and wanted to give up. At the time I had a young mentee, Jacqueline Gibson, that telephoned me out of nowhere and told me that I could not stop because I had inspired her. She told me that I had to keep going because I was her strength. That day she became mine. Every time I think about giving up, I think about there is a young girl out there somewhere watching me and using me as a model.
Contact Info:
- Website: SAG3nonprofit.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nonprofit_sag3/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/sag3nonprofit