LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. — A Kansas City woman hopes to fill a resource gap for teenage girls and women.
Tiffany Price founded a non-profit called "Hold Em Up 4 Care" which donates well-fitting and gently used or new bras to people and shelters in the Kansas City area.
What started as a vision just five years ago has outgrown Price’s garage and its current storage unit. "Hold Em Up 4 Care" hosted its first event in 2019 and became an official non-profit during the pandemic. Price initially catered to domestic violence shelters, the houseless and breast cancer survivors.
The non-profit recently launched another program called "Belts, Boxers and Bowties," which provides underwear and belts to boys and teaches them how to tie a tie properly.
Going forward, she hopes to undergarments that not only fit but also continue to raise awareness for breast health and push for laws that actually lead to tax exemption on feminine necessities.
“It’s all about building up their confidence. Because if their confidence is built up, then they perform better in school, they perform better at work, they perform better in sports, they perform better in life,” said Price. “If you don’t have all the right stuff beneath, even though people can’t see it, you know. So that messes with your mental, that messes with your mind, that messes with your concentration, so how are you supposed to perform in life if you’re going through all these things underneath that nobody sees?”
Tammi Miller with Shepherd’s Care Ministries understands just how far a clean set of undergarments cargo for women and children who are focused on survival. "Hold Em Up 4 Care" recently gifted bras to the women at the shelter for Valentine’s Day.
“I think that that is such a feminine, private thing but such an essential thing for women to find that dignity that there’s value there, there's still value in the core of who you are,” said Miller. “It truly touched the women.”
Miller remembers when she was a client at the shelter after leaving a domestic violence situation. She says it would have meant a lot to receive the gift back then.
“With the essentials and feeling that dignity, it gives you the small step to say what I can do this, I can do this, I can find myself again,” said Miller.
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