Every Friday for the past two months, volunteer Richard Golden has been coming into the Street Roots front office for an hour or two, bringing boxes of colored beads, braided string, ropes, pliers and clasps for an open crafts and jewelry-making class for any and all interested Street Roots vendors. Some vendors haven’t missed a week.
Pops came once in the beginning, learned how to do a cobra braid with colored rope from Golden, then went home and turned his kitchen table into a workshop. He’s been producing dog leashes and bracelets ever since.
“I came into Street Roots one day,” Pops said, “and Richard asked me if I wanted to stay and do some crafts. So I sat down, and he taught me how to make a cobra braid. I have a dog at home. I thought maybe I could make some leashes. So I turned my table into a frame, and now I’m turning out lots of them. I sell what I make. I’m getting a book with 25 different braids you can do. I’m trying to work out a pattern for dog collars.”
Pops charges $20 for a large dog leash and $5 for a children’s bracelet. He is in a wheelchair, and he’s excited about a new source of income he can easily manage from home.
“This guy here, Richard, he taught me everything I know about this,” Pops said.
“I’m amazed at what you’ve accomplished,” Golden said to Pops. “I’m so happy for you. It’s beautiful. You should be proud.
“He didn’t forget anything I taught him,” Golden said.
Jennifer Bradford has also loved the open workshops. She hasn’t missed a single one. With the materials Golden brings in each week, Bradford is creating original earrings, necklaces, key chains and bracelets.
“It has given me something I love to do. It gives me more freedom,” she said. “I have done one trunk show, and I’m doing a crafts fair on Nov. 30, and I have another trunk show coming up Dec. 2. I’m looking at starting a business,” she added. “I am doing this while I’m selling Street Roots. I sit and bead with my papers there by the coffee shop all the time. I love it.”
Golden said he is fulfilling a vision he had of providing a table of crafts for vendors to sit and work with. He has been scavenging and deconstructing costume jewelry for many years. Each time he comes, he has more boxes of interesting beads and stones to share.
“I wanted to give the same opportunities to others that I have had myself. Knowing that there is something I can do, more than nothing, is important to me. I can sit home and complain or I can do something. The response has been more than I could hope for,” Golden said.
Golden hopes to get more vendors involved and to expand the workshops into other money-making craft ventures for vendors. He also plans to coordinate a puzzle day where vendors do puzzles together.