Doing Good: A Billings, Montana Soap Company with Impact
Rock Creek Soaps started in 2015 from Rachael’s very own kitchen! Jen joined as a co-owner in 2017 when the business grew into its first small shop. Since day one in Rachael’s kitchen, the heartbeat of Rock Creek Soaps has been to make eco-friendly bath & body products good for both you AND the earth.
In 2018, things started to take off and sure enough, running Rock Creek Soaps became our full-time jobs. We knew we were creating something special, so we began to dream of using our business as a vehicle to make a greater impact in our local Billings, Montana community. We’ll never stray from the mission to make the best natural products on the market, but our passion has grown into something bigger than us!
Partnering with local nonprofits for lasting impact
We wanted to make a strategic difference and partner with nonprofits already doing good. As a 100% women-owned & operated business ourselves, our goal was to empower women coming out of challenging circumstances by providing therapeutic work opportunities.
We prepped and planned for a year before hiring our first work therapy intern from the HER Campaign. The HER Campaign is an organization in Billings, Montana helping victims of sex trafficking heal, grow, and find purpose through holistic residential care programs. We’ve also continued to expand our partnerships in Billings, Montana over the years. We now work with the Hannah House, a home for women in recovery to live with purpose and find growth in faith, healing, skills, and healthy relationships.
Today, we’ve logged over 500 hours with interns & apprentices since launching our work therapy program in 2019!
Providing therapeutic work opportunities for vulnerable women
Our work therapy program aims to meet women exactly where they’re at. We guide each applicant through the interview process, which for many, is for the first time in her life. Once accepted, each intern starts our program with diverse backgrounds and skillsets. We take the time to work one-on-one to help build new skills tailored to her natural strengths and help build confidence that she can carry into the workforce.
Similar to how each skill set is different, each time frame is as well. We’ve had interns work with us from a range of two weeks all the way to moving up to a long-term position at Rock Creek Soaps. We try our best to lead with grace-based accountability to be mindful of difficult trauma women may have experienced, while also setting up to succeed with realistic workplace expectations and accountability.
Giving more than proceeds
You’ve likely seen businesses promote campaigns where “when you purchase one, we donate one.” These companies are amazing, but when we give back to the community, we want to give more than our proceeds! That’s why we give our time, emotions, energy, and friendship through our work therapy program.
We equip women with positive job skills by directly working with us on all our products. When you buy any of our soaps or bath products, they’ve likely been made with help from our work therapy interns.
At the end of the day, it’s not a “program” or donation that will elevate someone out of hard circumstances. It’s time spent in healthy relationships and mentoring that make a lasting impact in our Billings, Montana community.
“I have never been treated so much like a person as I have been while I’ve been working with them. I’ve had days that were heavy to handle on my own. They never judged me, but prayed with me and told me I’m going to be ok; that the hard part is over because I’m no longer in that situation and that God has something new and a better plan for me.” - Rock Creek Soaps Work Therapy Intern
How you can make a difference with us
Whether you’re in Montana or shopping with us from across the world, you can join us to make a difference in the lives of vulnerable women. One way is by purchasing from our unique Soaps for HER collection. These soaps are uniquely designed for the HER Campaign and made by women in our work therapy program.
You can also make a positive difference by supporting local businesses that prioritize doing good and giving back. Your support keeps work opportunities like ours thriving. We love what we do and how our business has the power to impact the community around us. Every product purchase helps us bring even more good into the world, and we’re honored to partner with Her Campaign and Hannah House on the journey.
Please visit HER Campaign at hercampaign.org and the Hannah House at cldibillings.org/hannah-house to see how you can get directly involved and learn more about their programs.