What exactly is Julie's Purse Project?
A 501(c)(3) non-profit
Julie’s Purse Project is a passion project started in the fall of 2015 and has been an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization since 2019. As of July 2024 over 30,000 filled purses have been distributed! The initial mission was to give back to those in need during the holidays. It has since grown into a year-round nonprofit organization collecting new and gently used purses and filling them with essential items that women would want or need in their purses if they were starting over with nothing. Julie’s Purse Project works to provide high-quality purses stocked with life-changing essentials for survivors of trauma and hardship. These purses are a tool-kit aiding the path to dignity, empowerment, and resilience for the recipients while providing an easy avenue for charitable giving by generous donors.
What goes inside of a purse?
Anything you feel you would need if starting over with nothing, When I first started I focused a lot on the hygiene items. Shampoos and conditioners, lotions and soaps and toothbrushes and toothpaste. As the project grew and the purses were distributed I learned a few things. While I still take donations of those items, most of the hygiene items are provided at shelters. They can get those items. What they cannot get is where we come in! The essentials like skin care, nail care, makeup and jewelry. Condoms and tampons and pens and notebooks. Hairbrushes and hair ties. Shaving razors and deodorant and perfume. The things that make you feel pretty, and human. Instead of her feeling disposable let’s make her feel indispensable! In ten years she can still be rocking that Coach or Michael Kors bag and wearing that necklace and think “ya know, that was a really hard time in my life, but look at me now!”
Who benefits from the purses?
The filled purses are donated to individuals and nonprofit organizations throughout Northern California directly helping and impacting the lives of sex trafficking and domestic violence survivors, women being released from incarceration and rehabilitation, women suffering from the effects of poverty, refugees, transgender youth, fire survivors and our homeless women.
How can I help the cause?
For monetary donations:
Venmo: @juliespurseproject
Zelle: 9164948729
PayPal: juliespurseproject@gmail.com
In the Sacramento Area there are pink donation barrels from Auburn to Elk Grove.
For pre-owned new and gently used purses print a PREPAID shipping label at findlayco.com/pages/give-back-box and check out their gorgeous purses while you are there! Thank you Findlay for helping JPP assist more women in receiving a beautiful purse, and for your compassion for the planet to keep purses out of landfills. The purses deserve a second chance at a beautiful life, just like the recipients do.
You can also order essentials from Amazon and ship directly to:
Julie’s Purse Project
c/o Julie Nakayama
6565 Lou Place
Granite Bay, Ca 95746
All items are tax deductible.
What the people have to say.
Stand Up Placer Staff is so grateful for Julie’s Purse Project. We distribute the purses we receive to domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking victims who must often rebuild their lives from scratch after escaping life-threatening violence. A beautiful new purse filled with personal items can be a life-changing gift for a survivor. Thank you, Julie, for helping us continue to save lives by empowering survivors and educating communities to stand up to domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking!
Our organization helps lower socioeconomic status teen mothers and fathers who are in school with essential baby supplies. Julie’s Purse Project donates gently used or new purses with hygiene items in them which our clients can utilize all of the items included. We want to our families as much as we can, and partnering with other organizations allows us to do that. Thank you so much for your help!
The female guests of The Lazarus Project and The Gathering Inn that received purses from Julie’s Purse Project felt love, gratitude and pride. Carrying a beautiful purse filled with all the essentials a woman needs, gives them a sense of purpose and self-worth.
“Julie was at the Green Valley Community church evacuation center during Caldor and made such a difference with the purses she brought and with the helpful items in the purses! I’ll be honest, it even helped to get to pick out a purse and partake of that ‘normal life’ activity of ‘shopping’, as if life was normal and as if we weren’t in limbo waiting to see if our homes would still be there at the end of each day and as if we weren’t sleeping in a room full of snoring strangers at night. 🙂 She’s an angel for this outreach, imo.”
I am currently at Stand Up Placer… with that said I came here with nothing. I use to be someone I lost touch with and didn’t realize how much I missed until I got to choose a purse and was over excited like a child in a candy store. To some people a purse is something to carry things like junk in and gets swapped out quite frequently, to me thou my purse is a new beginning of rebuilding my strength to carry my dreams, ambitions and to re-establish myself as a woman in.
Thank You So Much
We frequently encounter complaints about food stamp recipients possessing designer purses, perpetuating the common stereotype of the “welfare queen.” These anecdotes often feature recipients with Coach purses. However, our monthly street outreach efforts, conducted in collaboration with Julie’s Purse Project—a nonprofit organization—reveal a different reality. We distribute donated purses filled with hygiene supplies to women living on the streets, and some of these purses are indeed name-brand items. Consequently, many of the women we assist are seen carrying these high-quality purses. Owning a nice purse does not equate to financial stability. Poverty does not necessitate outward signs of struggle. Every woman deserves something that boosts her self-esteem. Let’s stop the judgment and support initiatives like Julie’s Purse Project (501c3) that make a positive impact.
Julie Nakayama, founder of JPP
Julie Nakayama resides in Granite Bay, California with her husband CJ and sons Jace and Jude.
Get in touch with me though my e-mail or phone!
Send donations to:
Julie’s Purse Project 501c3
6565 Lou Place
Granite Bay, CA 95746
Phone Number
916-494-8729
juliespurseproject@gmail.com