HOW WE GOT HERE

The Nourish Collective began as a dream in December of 1999 when Melissa Flick and Angela Adams were working feverishly making flannel pajama bottoms for their husbands' Christmas gifts. As they sewed and cursed they sang the Powerpuff Girls theme song and dreamed about ways to make a difference in the lives of other women. Ways to support families. Ways to build sustainable and healthy communities.

Around 3am found Ang and Melissa with one pair of pajama pants with a leg sewed on inside out and one pair with the fly sewed shut. But the important product that night was an index card filled with scribbles surrounding one single, legible word in capital letters: NOURISH.

And one thing was clear, it wouldn’t involve sewing.

Fast forward to Winter 2002. Now with college degrees, experience in the non-profit world, and a fair share of heartache, Melissa and Ang begin what they affectionately referred to as “The Big Soap” project. Starting with a $0 budget, they successfully obtained over $250,000 in donations-in-kind to build the World’s Largest Bar of Soap and turn it into a community event to increase awareness of scleroderma, an autoimmune disease that claimed the life of Melissa’s mother, Starr Johnson, and to raise money for scleroderma research. Over 8 tons of blue “Ocean-Mist” scented soap later, Melissa and Ang had one important realization.

“If people are willing to give their time and money to help two hippies build a big blue soap, we can make Nourish a reality.”

Between 2003 and 2009, The Nourish Collective accomplished the following (while working full-time jobs and with no outside financial contributions!):

- Distributed over 15,000 pounds of soap (yes, cut piece-by-ever-loving-piece from the World’s Largest Bar) to 60+ charities from Dallas, TX to Jimma, Ethiopia. (Full List.)
- Provided financial assistance and donated basic hygiene and medical supplies to refugees of Hurricane Katrina
- Hosted DFW area screenings of documentaries
- Completed needs assessment of the Central Arlington Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area
- Helped organize two sustainable-living/community-building/spiritual-development weekend events
- Developed relationship with organizations promoting natural healthcare alternatives
- Provided natural health consultations and led seminars on non-toxic cleaning alternatives
- Provided doula services to women in need 

In 2009 Melissa and Angela took stock and realized they wouldn’t accomplish the dreams of The Nourish Collective on their own.

So in late 2009 The Nourish Collective got official. We've recruited new superheroines to join us and now we're ready to rock.

And now we’re ready for you to join the collective, too.

 

There’s so much to do. Let’s make it happen.