Conversations with Samantha Seelhoff

Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha Seelhoff

Hi Samantha, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Mend on the Move is a 501(c)(3) non-profit social enterprise serving Metro Detroit that empowers and employs female survivors of abuse through jewelry making using auto parts and salvaged car seat leather.

Mend on the Move’s founder, Joanne Ewald, lived a good portion of her life keeping her childhood sexual abuse story a secret. Alongside the abuse, she also buried other gifts and talents that she was not confident exploring or really just didn’t know existed because she was not living into her authentic self. She calls this “surface living.”

By sharing her abuse story, Joanne had hope to bring encouragement to other survivors, particularly those who struggle with unresolved, hidden pasts. She had hope that through her journey others could find the strength to repurpose their lives, as she did.

Joanne gravitated to creating jewelry and especially loved working with discarded items. She worked initially with old watch parts to create jewelry. At some point it dawned on her that she was especially attracted to transforming old things into new creations because that’s exactly what was happening to her. The healing process, and creating was a big part of this, was repurposing into her authentic self, which she had buried along with the abuse for so long.

Joanne started to envision other survivors creating jewelry as a part of their healing process and she found out about a social enterprise called Thistle Farms, which has been around for over 20 years and employs survivors to create bath and body products. Finally, she had a name for what she wanted to do. Social Enterprise. She loved the idea of providing opportunity for women to help themselves in such a unique and creative way. Joanne was drawn to the auto industry due to living in Michigan. She thought, what better way to represent the women in the Motor City? Joanne then began her work to get donations from auto suppliers around the state and collected various different auto scraps and car seat leather for her social enterprise.

The right people began to enter her life at the right time. After two years in the making, Joanne lifted “Mend on the Move” off the ground and turned it into a fully functioning nonprofit organization. Joanne ran Mend from 2015 to early 2023 until she decided she did all she could do for Mend in the studio. In early 2023, Samantha Seelhoff took on the role of Executive Director. Samantha had already been a part of Mend at the time as the Human Services Coordinator. Samantha worked side by side with the survivors of Mend by running support groups, providing one on one support, and various other tasks within the organization. Joanne felt Samantha was the perfect fit for the role of carrying Mend on the Move into the future.

Samantha Seelhoff takes pride in running Mend on the Move today. With the help of her team, and board of directors, Mend is continuing to provide a safe, supportive, and encouraging work environment for survivors to heal while creating beautiful jewelry and leather goods.

While Joanne is no longer in the studio of Mend on the Move, she continues to share her story with others in order to provide hope to fellow survivors. In fact, she is currently working on telling her story in the form of a book in which she hopes to publish in the near future.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Joanne reported that she had many bumps along the road when it came to bringing her idea of Mend on the Move to fruition. It was discouraging sometimes trying to convince people of something she could see so clearly in her mind but no one was willing to take a chance on. She counted ten closed doors from nonprofits that she tried to partner with who would provide the abuse survivors for her social enterprise. But all of those closed doors were “refining” her, building perseverance and helping her to rely on God and trust that what she felt He was calling her to do would happen.

Joanne spent the early years of Mend working out of a mobile studio. She and her team would visit recovery homes and work with women at their location. Today, Mend on the Move now has a donated studio space in an automotive plant. The survivors who come to Mend come into the studio and work onsite as one loving and supportive little community. Women who work for Mend come from all different educational and economic backgrounds. There is no “one size fits all” when it comes to being part of Mend on the Move’s program. Each survivor comes to Mend on the Move for one reason: to heal alongside other women who have been through the trauma of abuse in a safe and supportive environment.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As previously stated, Mend on the Move is now run by Samantha Seelhoff. Prior to Mend on the Move, Samantha worked in the child welfare system for over 10 years. She worked closely with children who had suffered from abuse and neglect within their homes. She helped connect children to different foster homes and adoptive families when necessary, and also worked with biological parents to reduce the barriers for their children to stay or return to their birth homes. Samantha also worked closely with many women over the years that had also survived abuse within their lives. The stories and work experience really pushed Samantha to continue her work long term to help others. She saw the need within her community to continue the work.

In 2020, Samantha took some time off work to care for her two young children during the pandemic. When it came time to return to work, Samantha began exploring jobs where she could continue to address the issue of abuse. When finding Mend on the Move’s therapeutic and safe work program for female survivors, she felt drawn to the program immediately. Samantha worked just over six months as the Human Services Coordinator in the program before ultimately taking on the role of Executive Director when Joanne decided it was time for her to gracefully step away from the studio.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Samantha’s goal for the organization is to continue to provide hope and a safe place to heal for women who are employed with the program. After two years with the organization, she sees the power in creating beautiful products out of discarded items. Spreading Mend on the Move’s message that “it is never too late to heal” is so important to Samantha as she has witnessed women of all ages address their past and begin to move forward. By continuing Mend on the Move, Samantha hopes to show the community the power in sharing your story rather than keeping it buried within. The hope for Mend is that the support will continue to not only reach those who have a place in the studio, but for anyone who purchase and wears the beautiful creations that survivors of Mend make.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mendonthemove.org
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/mendonthemove
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/MendOnTheMove
• Other: TikTok: @mendonthemove