Our Story
yada means:
"to be known"
Yada supports women and children impacted by sexual exploitation and trafficking, building relationships that remind them they are seen, known and loved.
In 2021, Yada's founder Beth Williams opened a fair trade and resale store with a simple goal — to give women who had experienced exploitation a dignified place to shop as they rebuilt their lives.
Simple interactions grew into relationships. And as those relationships deepened, so did our understanding of what women actually needed to move forward.
So Yada grew with them.
Today, Yada is a store and so much more.
What started as a place to shop has become a community and a hub of resources to help vulnerable women move from surviving to thriving. Our volunteers have come together to not only love the women and children we meet, but to help them move forward.
The impact has exceeded anything we could have imagined. We are committed to continue pouring out our hearts with what Jesus has generously poured into us. We are seeing true life transformation — in survivors, in their children, in volunteers, and in our broader community. We rise together.
FAQs
Yadáis a Hebrew word that means “to know.” The Yada Project desires to know God and to help others know his love for them. Through getting to know communities and their true needs, those communities hopefully experience feeling known and cared about - seen for who they are and what they are doing to participate in the story of this great big world we all share.
We purchase all of our products outright from our artisans, who receive a generous, fair wage for each product they make. A “generous, fair wage” is defined as a living wage appropriate to their community lifestyle that enables them to care properly for their family. We believe that poverty is not only an economical issue but a social and ethical one as well. This is why The Yada Project strategically partners with organizations that are already caring for the physical (food, shelter, health) and spiritual needs in a community. By providing a consistent market of buyers, we are giving artisans the chance to plan for their future and find hope through the ongoing sale of their products.
The Yada Project is a registered 501c3 non-profit, operating as a business. 100% of the proceeds go back into the work of supporting, sustaining, and seeking-out the communities in need of marketplace assistance.
The purchase of a product through The Yada Project helps to provide a living wage for people who are struggling to overcome extreme poverty and provide for the basic needs of their families. In most cases it can mean the difference between going hungry and having food or being able to send their kids to school and not being able to.