It takes hard work and farsighted vision to take something old and give back something new. Nashville-based non-profit Soles for Souls stands as a testament to the value of walking the world in someone else’s shoes.
The organization was unofficially founded in 2004 by Wayne Elsey, a long-time veteran of the shoe industry, who, after seeing the devastating international effects of the same year’s Indian Ocean tsunami, made an effort to give back in the best way he knew how—one pair of shoes at a time.
After Hurricane Katrina washed through 10 months later, Soles for Souls became a recognized beacon of generosity throughout the United States and abroad.
- Buddy Teaster
Soles 4 Soles CEO
“In a short amount of time, even thought the organization didn’t officially exist, it got a lot of support,” said Buddy Teaster, CEO since 2012.
Since being officially recognized as an international organization in 2006, Soles for Souls has impacted 127 countries worldwide and countless more individual names and faces.
Despite a bout of local controversy revolving around the organization’s old model, the team has since reconstructed in a powerful way, combining innovation, creativity and ingenuity to reconcile international poverty with a country that throws away four billion pounds of textiles each year.
“I came into a fair bit of turmoil,” said Teaster. “There was some bad press here in Nashville. The one that was the most perplexing to me was an article where the headline was ‘Charity sells more shoes than it gives away.’ The team, at the time, did not really embrace the micro-enterprise model. It was a big part of what we did. It didn’t affect us very much across the U.S., but in Nashville it did. The business needed a lot of work. It’s been a tough year, but we’ve made tremendous progress.”
“Our chief development officer Kevin said something his first week here at a planning meeting that I really like,” added Teaster. “He said, ‘If this team can’t do it, it can’t be done.’”
The organization’s donations, which include both new and used shoes, have made a tremendous impact both through the free-distribution model and the organization’s unique micro-enterprise model.
The micro-enterprise program not only distributes 65% of the shoe income the non-profit receives, it exists solely outside the U.S. in countries and cities where the local economy is stimulated by markets and street vendors, working to promote the small businesses of individuals and generate ease for withering economies.
“These boxes hold about 110 pounds,” said Teaster of the containers used to transport shoes for the program. “They’re mounded up and taped and then we ship them to Miami and they get put on the boat and go to wherever they’re being sent. For example, we have a partner in Haiti called the Haitian American Caucus, and they do three things: they run k-12 programs, adult literacy programs, and a microenterprise program. So they’re making these small loans, mostly to women, around the community. We partner with them and sell the shoes to HAC, for them to sell to their clients.“
“Those women traditionally, because they’re buying in such small quantities, get the crappiest and hardest stuff to sell,” said Teaster. “So we’re getting them better quality shoes, because we’re cutting out two maybe three middle men along the way, and in every step somebody takes the good stuff. So they get better quality shoes, they get a better price because we cut out some of the supply chain, and we’re a consistent supplier. Every month we know we’re going to get at least one shot. So, we sell to HAC, for around a $1.50 a pound. HAC takes responsibility from Miami to Port Au Prince. I think they sell the shoes for $3 to $4 a pound or pair, and then the women who buy the shoes—I think the average price, we’re trying to do some more work, is $10. So they’re keeping most of the value.”
“What we’re finding out is that most B-grade shoes bring $19 of economic value in Haiti,” added Teaster. “That’s a big deal. Seventy-eight percent of people in Haiti live on less than $2 a day—but people have money to spend on shoes—even the elite people come to the markets to buy shoes. So, when these women can suddenly make $6 per pair, their lives can change dramatically—they can send their kids to school, they can have two meals a day instead of one, that kind of stuff. So, that’s our best model, and that’s what we’re trying to replicate more and more. But, there are places—we don’t have that relationship in Bolivia. We’re going to have to work our way in and around.”
While the micro-enterprise program is typically supplied with used shoes collected through donations to avoid legal discrepancies with companies that allow Soles for Souls to distribute new merchandise for free in the U.S., there are certain instances where the organization’s retailer partners make exceptions for the greater good.
North Face, a popular American clothing retailer, has recently allowed Soles for Souls to implement their customer returns—clothes and shoes with brand-new value—into the micro-enterprise program to be sold by shop owners in other countries.
“It’s been fascinating to me,” said Teaster. “Even in Haiti and places that are a long way away from here, people would pay more for a pair of used Nikes than a brand new pair of Wal-Mart shoes. They want the brand. North Face is a great brand. So what that means is that woman selling in the markets can get a lot of money for that jacket. So, when we’re able to mix some of that into our micro-enterprise, it creates a lot more value on the ground.”
Although the organization spends more than $400,000 on shipping each year, it places much emphasis on the successful micro-enterprise system and has recently begun implementing more group trips to serve in third-world locations outside of the U.S., Soles for Souls has worked vigorously to create an expansive local framework as well.
“The number of distributions that we do—more than half of those are in the U.S.,” said Teaster. “We, just this summer, were in our 50th state.”
Partnering with various churches, colleges and universities, companies and individuals nationwide, Soles for Souls utilizes the new merchandise received from partner retailers and distributes it for free at homeless shelters, battered women’s shelters, orphanages and underprivileged schools and Native American reservations.
The organization has, in recent years, worked to increase its involvement with colleges and universities across America and has hosted a shoe drive in partnership with the SEC at popular sporting events and even began taking student groups out of the country, including last summer’s trip to Tanzania with a group of Vanderbilt students.
Inside the warehouse
While the wide-scale involvement is complex and resource-consuming, the non-profit has not forgotten its roots.
“We do a lot here in Nashville,” said Teaster. “There are three, almost 400,000 kids here in Nashville that are impoverished. That’s a lot. You don’t have to go very far to see that the need is there.”
Soles for Souls works regularly within the Nashville community, providing shoes to shelters like the Nashville Rescue Mission and Nashville Homeless Connect as well as schools with a large underprivileged population. The organization also hosts a variety of charity events within the community, including the recent partnership with the Ragnar Relay Series.
“We frame what we do now in terms of fighting poverty,” said Teaster. “That’s not a battle you can win. We’re trying to come up with measures of impact. How many people do we affect? This year the goal is five million people. In three years, we’d like to be at 10 million. How far do we go? How accurate can we be? It’s something we’re wrestling with right now because it’s new ground for us.”
“I just feel like we’re really poised for a tremendous leap forward,” added Teaster. “I’m super excited about that.”
Written by Katherine Foreman