JACKSONVILLE, FLA. – Parents of autistic children will soon have a supportive environment in which to share their feelings, ideas and treatment options, thanks to a $1000 Investing In You grant from Community First Credit Union. The grant will help launch The S.T.A.R. group, named for the benefits the group will bring its members: support, teaching, advocacy and respect.

JACKSONVILLE, FLA. – Community First Credit Union awarded a $1,000 Investing in You grant to Rethreaded, a nonprofit agency dedicated to helping women victims of the sex trade industry restart their lives economically and emotionally. The grant will be used to support the agency’s T-shirt recycling business, which employs women who are emerging from lives of addiction, violence, human trafficking and prostitution.

Rethreaded collects donated T-shirts and teaches women to recycle them into new products, including handbags, scarves, and rugs. The agency sells these items, along with other products made by women all over the world, through home parties that not only raise money to reinvest in the project, but also help educate others on the horrors of human trafficking. The $1,000 grant will help the organization purchase a new sewing machine and sewing supplies.