Hope’s Gate was born with a mission to bring hope to orphans, victims of human trafficking, and the world’s most vulnerable.
It all began in 2011 when Hope’s Gate founder, Patty Bauman, traveled to India and encountered the desperate plight of countless young people. Seeing the overwhelming needs of street children, orphans, and trafficked girls, she was not hopeless but instead decided to bring change. Patty partnered with several shelters and safe houses took a few jewelry designers with her and began a jewelry project.
The designs and materials used were very basic in the beginning, but with a drive to persevere, the skills, beauty, and resulting products have improved each year.
Reaching Africa
A few years later, Hope’s Gate expanded to Uganda, creating more opportunities for women and children-at-risk to build a new life for themselves. Using beautiful handmade paper beads and native textiles, a unique product line was started.
Opening Shop
In 2016, Hope’s Gate opened a small store near downtown Wylie, Texas, in order to offer products to their local community. In the Fall of 2020, they expanded into a larger location directly in downtown giving them a much greater level of accessibility to the people in the community to help raise awareness of the work they do abroad.
Refuge in the Middle East
In 2018, Hope’s Gate began a project in the Middle East, as the overwhelming needs of refugees came to our attention. The jewelry project is now active in two countries in the Middle East, and offers income generation to those who have fled their homes, often from life threatening circumstances. The jewelry project gives safe and fulfilling work, keeping them and their children out of the grueling field labor which leaves them unprotected and at risk of sexual exploitation.
The Impact
Each person working in this project receives a fair wage for the items they make. The products are then sold in the USA and the profits are given back to the shelters, safe houses and toward the education of their artisans. In 2018, seventeen students were sent to college with full scholarships.
