About the Company

The Scarlet Thread International, Inc. is a nonprofit, survivor-made/fair trade retail business and social enterprise. We are known online as The Scarlet Thread Store.  We sell beautiful products that are handmade by survivors of human trafficking, addiction, homelessness, and abuse. We exist so people in the United States and around the world can experience hope, freedom, and independence through sustainable employment. We pay our artisans UP FRONT for every product they make. All profits are re-invested in the lives of our artisans and donated to organizations that serve at-risk people groups. Our products have the power to change lives!

The Scarlet Thread began in 2012 in a remote tribal village in India. While living in India, our founder, Kim, saw the desperation of the poorest families on the planet. Daily she came face to face with extreme starvation, hopelessness, and exploitation as a result of dire poverty.  Many of the families were young women with children. These women had no education or skills to earn money to feed their children.  Many would give their children to orphanages in hopes they would survive.

Kim believed if these women could learn job skills to make and sell handicrafts, they would be able to support their families and feed and educate their children. She bought materials, went into the villages, and taught the women to sew sari blouses and home decor items. On the hard dirt floor of a simple “house” in India, The Scarlet Thread social enterprise began.

The vision of The Scarlet Thread International, Inc. is to give exploited people from around the world a global marketplace to sell their handmade items. Every item we sell has a story of survival and restoration behind it.  We aren’t just selling products, we are changing lives one purchase at a time!