Divine Dignity was incorporated as an Ohio nonprofit in November 2022, but the seeds for this organization go back many years earlier. We have always had a desire and a passion to help others and have come to understand that dignity and hope are critical for a person’s well-being. Hygiene is essential to a person's self-esteem and hope is essential for a person’s self-worth. Hygiene is often a largely unmet need in low-income communities. Many organizations provide food, shelter, and clothing to those in need, but hygiene is not one of the recognized needs. The lack of hygiene — soap, toothpaste, deodorant, those basics we take for granted — can mean the difference in a person’s dignity. After much prayer and discussion, our staff and board had the vision to establish a ministry to serve our neighbors in need throughout the Columbus area. We found a centrally located warehouse. We developed a strategy that focuses on working with like-minded nonprofits to distribute hygiene to their community members. We established two programs: our hygiene centers and our hygiene closets.

 

The results have been amazing. Every week, we receive requests from communities and organizations who want to partner with us, and we are looking forward to adding more hygiene centers and closets throughout the Columbus area.

 

We also created our DigniTeens program which offers local teens from churches and service organizations to help teens in low-income communities receive dignity and hope through dignity bags filled with personal care hygiene items. This program has a huge opportunity to grow and expand.