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Disasters large and small, natural or man made, have a way of bringing out the best as well as the worst of humanity. We saw it on 9/11, when first responders rushed into buildings on the verge of collapse, and when people of good will came from all over the world to help in the recovery. We saw it after Hurricane Katrina, for the tsunami victims of Indonesia, and now, the world’s care in the wake of the earthquake in Haiti. We have a very large Haitian community here in Brooklyn, so the pain felt at seeing one’s country collapse into rubble is felt deeply and personally from Crown Heights into Flatbush and beyond. There are many worthy local organizations collecting money, clothing, food and other goods to send to Haiti. I’d like to take a minute to introduce you to one of them, because this Brooklyn organization’s mission has always been to help those in need.

If you wander into a small shop called Sue Rock Originals, at 1069 Bergen St, between Nostrand and Rogers, in Crown Heights North, you will probably be met by that force of nature herself, Sue Rock. She and her husband, Jerome, started their business as a non-profit 501(c)(3) charity to aid women escaping domestic violence. Sue, who used to be a legal secretary, lost a good friend to domestic violence several years ago, and it changed her. Sue wanted to have a business that could provide women starting new lives with clothing items, accessories, and home furnishing items that could brighten their new surroundings, as they often escaped with only the clothes on their backs.

Her shop accepts donations of fabrics, trimmings, yarns and other craft goods. Her crew of volunteers turn those donations into usable items that are either sold in the shop, or donated to various programs such as the Brooklyn DA’s Safe Horizons Program. Each day, a dedicated stream of volunteers from within Crown Heights and elsewhere, sit at the large tables and make belts, crochet hats, sew garments and pillow covers and curtains, or help Sue organize the growing library of crafts books, patterns, and materials. Husband Jerome, a former sous-chef, is now chief patternmaker, tailor and cutter. Anyone can come in and get a lesson on how to sew, or crochet or do something for the cause. Sue is a bustling whirlwind of energy, always including everyone, while working hard to organize everyone, keep track of everything and do the nitty-gritty of running the organization.

The shop is a storefront in a small apartment building bought by Sue’s late father, for a dollar, back in the 1970′s, as part of the city’s program to rid itself of properties in low income neighborhoods. For many years, the storefront was home to an after-hours club, which explains a disco ball that still hangs from the ceiling. Sue’s father worked on the building for the next 30 years, and left it to her when he passed away just last year. The week of the funeral, the night club owners abandoned the space in the middle of the night, leaving Sue, Jerome and their two kids with the space necessary to expand their business and offer more help to others. Helping the people of Haiti took no time for Sue to organize. Immediately, she rallied her volunteers and the public by having a sewing day for Haiti this last weekend. The announcement hit local and crafts blogs, flyers were distributed, and an announcement went into Facebook. On Sunday, people could be seen walking towards Bergen Street with portable sewing machines, eager to help. We saw men and women from all over, in the shop, young, old, black, white, Asian and Latino, hip and not so hip. If you couldn’t sew, Sue and Jerome had people sorting fabric and trim, or learning how to put a ribbon through a drawstring waistband, or packing boxes. It was a wonderful sharing event, with people helping those they will never see or know. Sue will continue throughout February sewing and collecting clothing which will be sent to Haiti later in the spring. She is now seeking a proven and reputable venue for those items, so that they can go directly to those in need, not sit in a warehouse somewhere. She will be having another sewing and volunteer event this Saturday, so if you want to help a worthy cause, and meet some wonderful people, check the Sue Rock Original blogspot for details.

Due to my computer crashing, and the large amount of programs and backed up data I have to reinstall, I had no access to my photos or research materials for today. Everything should be back up soon. I wanted to do a piece relating to Haiti relief anyway, and I hope everyone will do whatever they can now, and in the coming months, to aid Haiti’s people. It only takes a little to help so much.