Rose Berry Empowers Women Through Crafts

Rose Berry (in red) teaching basket making

Rose Berry of Tomah, Wisconsin always loved cooking from scratch and making crafts. She learned self-sufficiency from her mother, and developed a real "can do" attitude growing up on a dairy farm in rural Wisconsin. Rose's mother also instilled in her a sense of concern for the well-being of others that led Rose to become a nurse, serving in rural Kentucky, Nicaragua and Panama, among other places.

While taking care of her 88 year old aunt may keep Rose, for now, from working in more exotic destinations, Rose has found a way to do the things she loved AND help others right in the small, rural town of Tomah where she and her husband John are raising their two daughters.

Based in her own kitchen, Rose invites local women to come and learn crafting and cooking skills such as basketry, soap making, preparing all natural hand lotions and even how to cook bagels from scratch. The intergenerational women's gatherings promote friendship and support, as well as self-sufficiency and crafting skills that help women thrive in these financially challenging times.

"I used to think I was born in the wrong generation, " says Rose. "While other friends were going to dances, I wanted to have taffy pulls like my Grandma and Mom had. Now I think I was born in the most fortunate generation. I hope to take the best of the past and merge it with the best of the present and create an even better future.

"When women are busy with their hands, their tongues are unleashed and their hearts can come out. That's what I love, and so do many of my women. It's also a way to stimulate great conversation about things that really matter. As we weave, make soap or bake bread, we are generating money for charities that I am passionate about. For me, these charities are usually medical or agricultural, because it's my nursing, farming and mission backgrounds that have shaped me."

Rose charges $10 for each of her classes, and all the proceed go to a worthy cause. Rose believes the $10 donation provides the women with the freedom to choose which classes to attend, rather than feeling obligated to yet one more commitment in their busy lives. The crafters have supported Habitat for Humanity, a local library, a hospice and a medical mission in Haiti. If the women prefer, they can donate four hours to a charity in lieu of a cash donation for the classes.