In June 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported that Chewelah is Washington State’s poorest city. One in five Chewelah residents live at or below the poverty line and the typical household earns just $31,858 a year, which is less than half the median income of $66,174 across the state.

Ferry County is the sixth largest household recipient of food stamps in Washington and the seventh highest in the nation. Residents struggle to live on a median household income that’s the lowest in Washington state, according to Northwest Harvest.

Personal hygiene items cannot be purchased using food stamps, so these families are spending what little they have on items like soap, shampoo, and toothpaste when they could be spending that money on food, gas, or school supplies for their children. That’s where Project Beauty Share comes in. We’ll be partnering with agencies to help provide everyday hygiene items to women in need.

We’re excited to announce Project Beauty Share has received a $5,000 Innovia Foundation Rural Outreach grant! This will allow us to expand our reach to Ferry, Pend Oreille, and Stevens Counties. Funding of our Rural Outreach Expansion Program will build new partnerships, open doors to more agencies who don’t know us yet, and increase the number of women and families we can serve.