A T-shirt fundraiser that connects Indigenous teachings with modern world problems
Our Goal: Print messages of hope on the humble T-shirt to raise awareness and raise money for organizations that advocate for safe, affordable housing, as well as those that push for a guaranteed liveable income.
Welcome
Meme Tees: Messages of Hope is a T-shirt fundraising project with a purpose to inspire and raise awareness around affordable housing and a universal living income for all.
The first edition T-shirt in the series features the message:
Safe, Affordable Housing and a Liveable Income are Medicine
This meme honours the Indigenous Wisdom Keepers and is our prayer for indigenous peoples, and all people around the world.
Mission & Vision
Meme Tees: Messages of Hope seeks to amplify the voices of social workers, healthcare workers, housing workers, outreach workers, shelter workers and many other people across Canada who know that safe affordable housing and a liveable income are medicine. Justice in the service of social wellbeing and working to improve the health and supports for people living in poverty are roots of social work and are our core values, our heart and soul, and our ongoing mission.
This fundraising project endeavours to raise awareness that housing and liveable income are Medicine, in every sense of the word. The design on the T-shirt reflects the ideals of the Indigenous Medicine Wheel:
“Medicine” within the context of the Medicine Wheel, represents the alignment and continuous interaction of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual realities. The circle shape represents the interconnectivity of all aspects of one’s being, including the connection with the natural world.
Medicine wheels are frequently believed to be the circle of awareness of the individual self; the circle of knowledge that provides the power we each have over our own lives.
The presence of the Medicine Wheel also draws attention to the fact that Indigenous people account for 2.2% of Vancouver’s total population but make up 33% of the homeless count in Metro Vancouver. Indigenous people are disproportionately affected by poor housing and inadequate income across Canada.
We believe that everyone in this wealthy country of Canada has a part to play in finding ways to solve the problem of homelessness and offer hope to people living in poverty. How can people heal, grow and thrive if they do not have a safe place to call home?
Our goal is to raise awareness about the need for medicine, and to do so with a light environmental footprint following a non-profit model.
Meme Tees will donate $7.00 from the sale of every T-shirt (or more, if cost-recovery allows) to one of the following registered charities on a rotating basis:
For T-shirts bought within BC the donation portion will go to:
BC Indigenous Housing Society
For T-shirts bought from everywhere else a donation portion will go to:
The Shift — the global movement to secure the human right to housing
For T-shirts bought within the rest of Canada the donation portion will go to:
Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness
and
UBI Works
The T-Shirt
Messages of Hope Tee - 1st Edition
Special price for 2024 — the donation portion for our T-shirts is $7.00
T-shirts are $34.00
Meme Tees Messages is thrilled to be partnering with the following companies:
✓ Ethically sourced, sustainable fabric (sustainably sourced cotton and recycled polyester) t-shirts by Threadfast
✓ Printed locally in East Vancouver, with environmentally benign inks by Pressing Matters
✓ Mailing packages made of recycled plastic and sourced from an eco-packaging alliance company, Noissue
✓ All applicable taxes, shipping within Canada and $7.00 donation included in price
NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
