He re-created the keys to the buildings lost in the Los Angeles fires as fine jewelry. So Future Fortune founder Jessica Olds hopes to help places and people she loves recover from last month's disaster.
Future Fortune will donate all profits from customized Past-Present-Future Key pendants to rebuilding projects, with a special focus on schools. «I needed a way to give back to the community,» Olds says. «So that's my purpose right now and that's what I need to do.».
Olds has seen many friends struggle after the fires. And she still knows that jewelry is a way to preserve memories of what they lost.
Through Future Fortune's Past-Present-Future Key project , he says something tangible yet hopeful can come out of one of the saddest experiences in people's lives - the loss of a beloved home or business and everything in it.
«For many of us, our house keys were not just tools, but symbols of home. Symbols we would never be able to use again,» Olds says. «But what if we could create a new symbol. One that kept the essence of our homes alive and close to our hearts?»
Olds lives near where the fires destroyed thousands of buildings. Including her in-laws' home on Asilomar Avenue in Pacific Palisades - from which Olds, her husband and son had recently moved out. She also says she has made donations to several groups that offer assistance to homeowners and business owners.
«I was born and raised in Los Angeles and my husband was born and raised in Palisades. When we met, he introduced me to his hometown and it felt so special. It's a village-like community that is close-knit and generational,» Olds says. «So we were thinking about coming back to be closer to my husband's childhood school. In hopes that our son would go there someday.».
Her son, who is 5 years old, recently started transitional kindergarten. But Olds knows how important these places and the people who work there are to the communities they serve.
«Most of the schools in the Palisades area were damaged or burnt to ashes. They will have to rebuild from scratch,» he says. «Rebuilding our homes is vital. But rebuilding our schools is equally critical to restoring the heart of our community.».
Olds works with an LA area jeweler to create each custom key. Customers choose the metal and any gemstones or engravings they want on the pendant. Such as the home address or other details. Production takes two to four weeks and prices start at around 2,500 $.
“We have so much hope that we can overcome this,” Olds says. “I told my first client who had a key made that this is the key to success. We're going to successfully rebuild Palisades.”
Source: www.jckonline.com
