Written by: Haeven Gibbons
Photo courtesy of Melissa Ice, The Worthy Co.
A new boutique in Fort Worth is home to a non-profit that works to empower and employ survivors of human trafficking.
Melissa Ice opened The Worthy Co., a non-profit, social enterprise of The Net, along with her partner Sarah Bowden in 2018. The Worthy Co. employs women who are survivors of human trafficking to help them gain work experience and confidence before transitioning back into the workforce.
“The mission is employing women and seeing their lives transformed,” Ice said.
The Worthy Co. sells jewelry and candles handmade by the women they employ along with clothing. All proceeds help employ survivors of trafficking.
The Worthy Co. sells clothes, earrings and bracelets among other items made by the women they employ. (Photos: Haeven Gibbons)
The Worthy Co. also sells candles and offers candle making classes. (Photo: Haeven Gibbons)
“This is more than a job for money for me. This is for my mental health. This is what I am doing to care for myself,” said one of The Worthy Co.’s employees.
A total of thirteen women have been employed by The Worthy Co.
After about 2 years, most women are ready to rejoin the workforce.
“I am living in truth that I am worthy of a good job,” said another Worthy Co. employee.
Two women who work at The Worthy Co. make earrings and bracelets to be sold in the boutique. (Photo courtesy of Melissa Ice, The Worthy Co.)
Two women who work at The Worthy Co. make earrings and bracelets to be sold in the boutique. (Photo courtesy of Melissa Ice, The Worthy Co.)
A woman who works at The Worthy Co. makes candles to sell in the boutique. (Photo courtesy of Melissa Ice, The Worthy Co.)
A woman who works at The Worthy Co. makes candles to sell in the boutique. (Photo courtesy of Melissa Ice, The Worthy Co.)
The Worthy Co. not only helps these women gain confidence but helps them build positive relationships.
“When I think about all the things I am blessed with, I am thankful that I have lady friends, a support system, and my own apartment. I can call any of my Worthy Co. friends at any time," a Worthy Co. employee said. "God has blessed me in so many ways, not with money or things, but with people and relationships. I am so happy.”
A need for space- The Worthy Co. gets a new place
In 2018, The Worthy Co.’s home was a 12 x 12 foot classroom in the basement of a church.
Sitting shoulder to shoulder against the cinder block walls, nine women would fill the room and make the candles and jewelry, Ice said. The women would then fill their car trunks with products to sell them at pop-up and flea markets.
“We couldn't hire more women because we couldn't make more products because we didn't have space,” Ice said. “We don't hire women to make candles and jewelry. We make candles and jewelry in order to hire more women.”
This past October, The Worthy Co. found their much-needed space.
They purchased a building on South Lake Street off of West Magnolia Avenue and turned the old 1920s home into a boutique and workplace for the women they employ. The new workspace has tons of storage, 20-foot ceilings and is about 1500 square feet compared to the 200- square-foot space they had in the church.
“Now we have a place to not only share our mission, but to showcase their (the women’s) products,” Ice said.
Photo: The Worthy Co.'s new office space and boutique. Here, products are made and sold to support victims of human trafficking. (Photo courtesy of Melissa Ice, The Worthy Co.)
Some TCU students are getting to help with this non-profit’s mission. Over half of the interns that The Worthy Co. employs are TCU students.
“I think such a big part of helping with the non-profits mission is being able to communicate it to others,” said Kirsten McFarlan a Worthy Co. intern and junior graphic design major at TCU. “The Worthy Co. works to empower and employ survivors of trafficking; therefore, as I get to be a part of the social media team as an intern, I get to actively help communicate that message and mission to others and in turn, allow more women to have jobs at The Worthy Co.”
McFarlan said her favorite part of working at The Worthy Co. is getting to create meaningful content on social media that is made for something bigger than herself.
“I get to take my love for design and pair it with the incredible mission of The Worthy Co.,” McFarlan said.
Photo: Inside the boutique, candles and jewelry are on display. (Photo courtesy of Melissa Ice, The Worthy Co.)
Reflecting on the past, looking to the future
The Net has served over 1,000 survivors of trafficking and sexual exploitation since 2012.
The Worthy Co. is a social enterprise of The Net, which is a non-profit organization that addresses poverty in Fort Worth. The Net was founded out of Christ Chapel Fort Worth college ministry in 2009 as an outreach program targeting the local refugee and homeless communities.
Since 2012, The Net has provided a three-to-five-year recovery program for women who have a history of sexual exploitation and incarceration. But in 2018, The Net decided they needed to do more for these survivors.
Women were graduating from the recovery program and were often ending up back in jail shortly after because they couldn’t find meaningful employment due to their past. So, Ice started The Worthy Co. to give these women a place to work after graduating from The Net’s program.
“We wanted to provide a place where women had safe and dignified employment where they could be valued,” Ice said. “It could be a soft place to land while they kind of gain some work skills and get a little bit of work on their resume."
The Worthy Co. was born. Now, eight years later, The Worthy Co.’s mission has also become The Net’s main focus.
“We took 2020 to pause and reflect on really who we wanted to be and the kind of impact that we hope to make in people's lives,” Ice said.
In March of 2021, The Net developed into an anti-trafficking organization. They handed off their programs helping refugee kids and homeless individuals to be able to fully focus on survivors of human trafficking.
Ice said the non-profit realized they’d rather “go deeper than wide.”
“I just want to live in a city that cares for the most vulnerable among us,” Ice said. “I have two little girls and I want them to grow up knowing that marginalized and vulnerable women have value and worth. And rather than hoping that a solution comes along, I think for myself and my co-founder, Sarah, when you're in proximity to people who are hurting and in pain, you don't wait for a solution, you become the solution.”
The Worthy Co. team (Photo Courtesy of Melissa Ice, The Worthy Co.)
The Worthy Co. team (Photo Courtesy of Melissa Ice, The Worthy Co.)
Haeven Gibbons is the Editor-in-Chief of Image Magazine. This summer, she will be working with the Fort-Worth Star Telegram as a multimedia reporter intern. Haeven is currently working toward a BA in journalism with a minor in Spanish at Texas Christian University. In the fall she will be headed to New York City to do a journalism internship with The King's College NYCJ Program.
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