Adirondack chairs mean independence for homeless Bisbee women

Nancy Weaver

The new Belleza Fine Art Gallery looks, to all outward appearances, like another nice art gallery on Bisbee, Arizona’s Main Street. But there is a lot going on beneath the surface that makes Belleza one of the most unique galleries in Arizona. For one thing, it is owned by a group of homeless women.

These colorful Adirondack chairs are selling as fast as the women can produce them.

Not only that, but these same women have, under the business name Southwest Skies Truly Unlimited, been building one of the gallery’s hotter selling items, hand-made Adirondack chairs.

The person behind all this is someone with a lot going on beneath the surface as well – Lou Anne Sterbick-Nelson, the non-profit gallery’s manager. She is largely responsible for the creation of the Women’s Transition Project, now two years into its operation. The WTP is tied integrally with the gallery and the woodworking business. For the Belleza Gallery project, Sterbick-Nelson wrote 75 grants, about half of which were awarded. Included in those grants was a three-year renewable $100,000 HUD grant for job training for the WTP women.

Gallery manager Lou Anne Sterbick-Nelson is the driving force behind the Women’s Transition Project.

Initially, Sterbick-Nelson enlisted Sam Pressley, a local craftsman, to train the women in a woodworking business that was to create large birdhouses. They rented a space at the Southwest Institute for Culture and Art and went into production. “But the birdhouses didn’t sell well enough,” she said. “And they were too labor intensive.” It was Pressley who came up with the idea to make the Adirondack chairs, which have proven to be good sellers at $149 for the large size and $119 for a smaller version. The poplar chairs come in a rainbow of durable colors and are weather-resistant for outdoor use. A handsome natural finish model of South American Ipe teak sells for $179.

Although these birdhouses are lovely, they didn’t prove to be cost-effective.

Most of what the gallery earns, including the chair sales, goes into interest-bearing savings accounts for the women, according to Sterbick-Nelson. “They’re all partners in the business. When they leave the Women’s Transition Project, they withdraw their share. I want them to have thousands, frankly.” This is not an unreasonable goal, since, at this writing, the women at the shop were scurrying to keep pace with the rate that orders for the chairs were coming in.

Enthusiastic WTP residents Katie, Lindsay and Heather apply a coat of paint to a new display for the gallery.

The maximum length of time women can stay at the WTP is two years. Their clients may have children, may be in transition, may have disabilities or substance abuse problems or be victims of domestic violence. But it is not a domestic violence shelter or a safe house. For women to stay the entire two years, they must demonstrate the willingness and ability to achieve permanent stability.

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