NEW!
The Giving Keys
Post Your Story
On The Giving Keys website, key holders can
share their personal stories about passing their
keys on to others. Close to 500 stories have
been posted – inspiring tales of gratitude, faith,
and friendship. Design First. Food Second.
What’s Next for Caitlin
Caitlin spends a lot of time speaking about The
Giving Keys movement across the country. She’s
also working on a new EP for release later this
year, spending time with her new husband, and
dreaming about how to help the world over a
cheese plate. There’s always a cheese plate.
The Key to Helping a Community
The Giving Keys is about more than stylish jewelry
It started in 2008 with a New York hotel room key. Actress and
singer/songwriter Caitlin Crosby wore the key as a necklace, and had
an idea to start engraving old, used keys with inspirational words.
“In a way, we are all like these keys – unique, flawed, scarred, and
at risk of being discarded – so I wanted them to have their purpose
renewed over and over again,” Caitlin explains. “The message is
ours for a time, but once it has served its purpose, pay it forward
to inspire another.”
Soon after, Caitlin created a business model, which hinged on a charitable purpose.The
Giving Keys would employ those transitioning out of homelessness to make jewelry
out of repurposed keys. To date, the company has employed 15 people experiencing
homelessness, providing them the opportunity to move into permanent housing.
The keys themselves come from various sources – eBay, estate sales, flea markets,
locksmiths – and are then engraved by employees. The words are chosen by the key’s
wearer. Each one is meant to carry a message, such as believe, courage, or strength, that
they need at that moment in their life.
In June 2013, the growing staff moved to the Los Angeles neighborhood of Lincoln
Heights, where they have space to expand. The Giving Keys are now carried in more than
300 stores, including Anthropologie, Fred Segal, Henri Bendel and Kitson. At the summer
market, look for new colors in the XX Long Pendant style, and updated styles in the
Never Ending Bracelet line.
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