Kelsey Cloud and partner Josh Stults will open A Bead for Change on Aug 17., selling handmade jewelry to help fund the Family Support Center of Chippewa Falls.

Two young Eau Claire professionals are hoping to bring change to the Chippewa Valley – one bead at a time.

Kelsey Cloud and partner Josh Stults celebrated the opening of A Bead for Change on Monday, August 17. An interesting blend of practicality and philanthropy, their store will sell handmade jewelry and other beaded items as a way to raise funds for the Family Support Center of Chippewa Falls, which helps women, men, and children end domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, and other forms of interpersonal violence through education, prevention, and intervention services.

“With our jobs, we simply can’t give back to the community like we want to,” Cloud stated of herself and Stults, both recent college graduates who work full-time. Cloud is the center’s prevention educator and resource development coordinator while Stults is a pharmaceutical sales representative.

“However, we’re both rather cause-conscious, and when I started at the agency, I had no idea how common domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse was. When you hear these numbers – ‘one in four girls, one in six boys will be sexually assaulted by the time they’re 18’ – it’s incredible. … This is happening in our communities, to people that we know. Something’s got to be done – and if we personally can’t get it to stop, then we need to support the agencies that are doing something about it.”

So Cloud and Stults figured out a way to turn an entertaining hobby into a thriving business venture that enabled them to support their favorite charities. In February 2009, the Indiana natives featured their work at the Art Crawl at Banbury Place, and after a few more successful shows, they were confident their business idea was a good one.

    “After that show, we had a good idea of what the community thought about this,” explained Cloud. “It wasn’t how many people showed up, or even how much we sold; rather, it was people’s reactions. We heard a lot of, ‘Oh, I really believe in this cause;’ ‘I know so-and-so who benefited from this agency.’ Most importantly, however, we heard a lot of, ‘it’s time someone did this in this community.’ … When all those things came together, we realized that perhaps Eau Claire is ready for something like this.”

Currently, Stults utilizes his decade of jewelry making experience to do the majority of work with leather, silver, and wood, while they work together on beadwork.

“The jewelry that we do is multi-faceted,” stated Stults. “For instance, a lot of people just do beading, but we actually do a lot of wire work, metal work, and now we’re getting into things you’d actually find at, say, Lasker’s, like setting rubies into rings and things like that.”

Even though Cloud and Stults just began their business, they are already thinking of expanding into painting and other forms of art – but their philanthropic goal will remain the priority. Currently, 10 percent of all total purchases go straight to the Family Resource Center, and during the months of April and October – Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Domestic Violence Awareness Month, respectively – 15 percent of A Bead for Change’s retail sales are donated. Furthermore, they do everything they can to support the local economy.

“We’re making it locally, you’re giving back locally, it’s all staying right here,” said Cloud. “This is an opportunity to donate to an agency in a way that we wouldn’t be able to otherwise. Any way we can support them, we will!”

A Bead for Change • 1235 Menomonie St., Suite C • Eau Claire • 563-2979  • www.abeadforchange.com.