At A Glance
What: The People’s Paper Co-op brings women with criminal records together to run a craft-based business. We sell products out of our community storefront on the Germantown Ave commercial corridor, online and at city-wide events. Each product comes with a story, poem, or statement written by an individual in the co-op.
Why: Through sales at craft fairs and cultural institutions, our beautiful hand-made products break down stereotypes and build empathy and solidarity. All profits go directly into the co-op to help our members be the powerful artists, activists, educators and neighbors they want to be. Our products also rescue paper and books from The Village’s waste stream!
Who: Women returning from incarceration enrolled in our Fellowship program — and you!
How: We accept donations of old hard-backed books, and re-bind and fill them with fresh handmade paper. All books are produced by our fellows in the People’s Paper Co-op Community Storefront.
Shop our books online! Or stop by our storefront at 2558 Germantown Avenue and say hi.
We need your hardback books!
Do you have a dusty box of books taking up space — too nice to throw out, but too old to read? We need your old hardback books! People’s Paper Co-op turns them into beautiful journals, filled with handmade paper recycled from expunged criminal records. The journals are sold at places like Eastern State Penitentiary and PHS : Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to share the stories of women in reentry and raise money for our #WomenInReentry fellowship.
Bring them by 2544 Germantown Ave anytime between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
