MILWAUKEE — Why not now? What are we waiting for? These are the questions that started a movement.
Founded in 2018 by Shannon Robak-Klein, Why Not Now Missions is a nonprofit organization created to inspire and empower refugee populations to reach their full potential.
As a former employee of the Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement Department, Shannon met many families coming to the United States without the ability to sustain themselves.
Watch: Meet the women who handmake baskets woven from plastic bags
They faced significant barriers due to language, ethnicity, and gender. Determined to make a difference with Why Not Now Missions, Shannon partnered with a local organization that taught a group of women from the Democratic Republic of Congo to crochet, upcycling plastic trash bags into desirable bags and baskets.
“I could see that the women just took off with it. They were super talented! So, I was trying to think of different avenues to help them sell their baskets and get them out into the community,” said Shannon.
This led to selling at farmers markets. Their baskets have been well-received at the Oak Creek, Brookfield, Wauwatosa, and South Milwaukee farmers markets, and Shannon is looking to get them into some holiday markets again this year. So far, they've sold about 1,500 baskets, earned a little over $30,000 in sales, and saved over 87,000 plastic bags from landfills.
“They enjoy it. That's the most important thing. They enjoy it, and I think it brings them confidence and hope. Getting out into the community, they see that people like their baskets; people want to support them,” Shannon says.
Why not now? This question, asked and answered, promotes cultural awareness, educational opportunities, and goes a long way toward making a difference—not just in the lives of local refugee women, but in our environment as well.
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