Ten Thousand Villages in Pasadena is pursuing grant funding to assist people who lost their homes in recent fires, while marking nearly two decades of supporting fair trade artisans worldwide.
The nonprofit store has served as a refuge for displaced residents in Altadena during the crisis.
“We have been a refuge for people who lost their homes. It just feels good to help our sister city Altadena in this process,” said Laurel Averill, the store manager.
The volunteer-run organization operates under fair trade principles, working exclusively with artisans and farmers in developing countries to ensure living wages and ethical working conditions. Everything sold is handcrafted, making each item one-of-a-kind.
“Our mission is to help artisans and farmers in developing countries earn a living wage. And people love that. Everything is handcrafted, made with love, recycled, upcycled. These are all made in the way that they’ve been making these items for generations,” Averill explained.
Averill selects inventory from Fair Trade Federation companies that adhere to strict standards including no child labor, clean working conditions, and fair wages.
Ten Thousand Villages pays 50 percent upfront and 50 percent upon completion, according to the organization’s established practices.
The organization particularly supports women in business, including partnerships with Malia Designs, which employs women in Cambodia who have escaped human trafficking.
“She provides a way to learn how to sew, and then they join her cooperative and they sew for a living. And because they’re getting a living wage, they don’t have to be in the human trafficking world anymore,” Averill said.
As a brick-and-mortar retailer facing increasing challenges, the store focuses on community engagement through educational programs and partnerships with other nonprofits.
“So our goal for the future is to stay alive. It’s brick and mortar. It’s getting harder and harder to make it. We want to stay here in Pasadena. We want our community to come and shop with us,” Averill stated.
Ten Thousand Village. For more information call (877)-883-8341 or visit
Ten Thousand Villages ~ Pasadena
567 South Lake Ave. Pasadena, CA
