In launching a print shop, I wanted to be mindful of how 2020 has changed all of our lives and the travel industry as a whole. For every print, I’ve chosen an organization making a positive impact in the destination featured. When you make a purchase not only will you be supporting small businesses, 20% of each print sale will go directly to benefit that destination and its community. Thank you for shopping to support!
Greece — Refugee Crisis
Currently, there are over 50,000 refugees in Greece. Most are men, women and children fleeing violence in the Middle East and South and Central Asia, as Greece is viewed as an entry point to Europe. Today, Greece has essentially become a ‘holding pen’ for people seeking asylum. Refugees in Greece can no longer legally travel deeper into Europe, and most will likely remain in the country. They need help integrating so they can build successful lives in their new home, a challenging feat anywhere but even more so in difficult financial times — and amidst a global pandemic.
Better Days is an organization dedicated to creating and sustaining innovative physical, mental, and emotional spaces for displaced people in Greece. Whether doing emergency response or providing informal education, Better Days emphasizes the importance of ‘space’, participatory practices and individual flourishing. They design humanitarian interventions and programs; challenge traditional notions of emergency education, and help to enable healing and recovery by customizing personalized solutions for individual growth and personal capacity.
Prints: Sarakiniko, Santorini, Firopotamos
Italy — Domestic Violence
According to the UN, 1 in 3 women worldwide experience some form of gender-based violence. In the last five years, 538,000 women were the victims of physical or sexual abuse by their partners, according to Italy’s national statistics agency. And as a result of Covid-19, fears that lockdowns have silenced domestic abuse victims continue to grow as more women are at home with their abusers and unable to seek help or an escape.
Chayn is an open-source, volunteer run platform created to help women who are affected by domestic violence. It aims to create guides across multiple languages and digital services offering support to women. In Italy, Chayn Italia helps women spot abuse in relationships and offers free resources for them to seek help and create a case against their abusers.
Print: Positano
Netherlands — Human Trafficking
There are an estimated 45.8 million people caught in the trap of modern slavery, and 4.8 million people in forced sexual exploitation worldwide. Human trafficking is extremely lucrative, earning traffickers approximately $150 billion per year. Specifically in the sex trafficking industry in the Netherlands (where prostitution was legalized in 2000), numbers continue to rise since refugees are often brought in by people smugglers, and are especially vulnerable to being trafficked.
Not For Sale provides vital direct resources to trafficked people. They work to break the cycle of modern slavery before it starts. Not For Sale also partners with local entrepreneurs to create projects that provide education, empowerment, and income. For instance, Dignita restaurant began from a project in which world-class chefs built a culinary program where those affected by modern slavery could earn certifications in kitchen work. Their mission is to create long-term, sustainable, scalable solutions that offer dignity, hope and a positive future.
Print: Snow Day
New York City, USA — Homelessness
Currently, there are more homeless persons in New York City than ever before. Every night nearly 59,000 people go to bed in a homeless shelter in New York City, and nearly 1 in 10 students in New York City public schools is homeless. With Covid-19, those numbers have gone up dramatically and those who have lost their jobs are finding themselves in increasingly difficult financial situations.
Win (Women In Need) is the largest provider of shelter and supportive housing to homeless families in NYC. In addition to housing, Win offers programs and services to support long-term housing stability. With a focus on women and children, Win provides critical programs designed to help those in need regain independence and build a brighter future.
Print: New York, New York
Norway — Climate Crisis / Wildlife Conservation
Current projections on the impact of the climate crisis state that if we do nothing to reduce our emissions, 20-30 percent of the planet’s species are likely to become extinct. We are already seeing the impact of the climate crisis daily, as natural disasters become more frequent and record temperatures continue to be set each season.
Friends of the Earth Norway is Norway’s largest environmental conservation organization. Their main goal is to protect nature and the environment, so that human activity does not exceed the tolerance limits of our planet. Though they originated in Norway, their work now extends worldwide and focuses on strengthening public environmental awareness and practices. Recently, they contributed significantly to the campaign that successfully stopped plans of oil drilling outside the Lofoten Islands in Norway.
Prints: Midnight Sun, Hvalsikter, Glacier Bay
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