Coach Nick Saban drinks his coffee from a “Roll Tide” mug made at Prodigal Pottery. Hoda Kotb and Kate Hudson are other famous fans of the Alabama nonprofit that employs women who are trying to start over.
At Prodigal Pottery, located on the peaceful grounds of King’s Home in the rural town of Chelsea just east of Birmingham, women’s hands ply and shape simple blocks of clay into beautiful, useful objects: small bowls, ring holders, crosses, ornaments and much more. Through the act of transforming clay, the women – all of whom have experienced homelessness, sex trafficking, and domestic abuse – are transforming themselves.
Each month, the women turn some 2,000 pounds of clay into hundreds of pieces of handmade pottery that are sold nationwide and in three foreign countries. The profits are then reinvested into the program. Some women make the pottery; some paint it in eight different glaze colors. Each piece is carved from slabs, in simple designs that are easily reproduced. They press lace doilies into the clay to make intricate patterns, then the pieces are fired twice in one of four large kilns.
During the holiday season, Prodigal Pottery turns out 500 ornaments and 200 pendants, which can be personalized and attached to mugs, each day. “It’s incredible to do the amount of business we do,” says co-director Amanda Claridy.
The organization’s co-directors share similar stories. “We’re completely survivor-run,” says Amanda, who oversees Prodigal Pottery’s wholesaler division, while Jenna Collins handles the retail side and marketing. “All of us were in the same boat as these women. Probably my favorite thing about this job is being a beacon.”
She came to King’s Home in 2018 with her third child, then just three weeks old, and went to work at Prodigal Pottery. “It was nothing like anything I’ve done before – the environment, the women, no deadlines to meet,” she says. She spent a year and nine months at King’s Home, transitioning out of the program and buying her first house.
Prodigal Pottery was started about eight years ago as an art therapy program after a donor gave a kiln to King’s Home. Founder Jamie Johnson, who has since taken a position with The WellHouse, mentored both co-directors and “was an instrumental part in our journeys,” says Jenna.
No pottery experience is required for the women who work there. Everyone is trained on the job. “We try to find what they like and move them to where they thrive,” says Amanda.
An important step in the pottery process is refining, where the potter goes back to a piece and removes the rough edges. At Prodigal Pottery, the women call it “loving” the piece. They give it the love it needs to turn it into something altogether new, unrecognizable from the clay from which it’s made – a perfect metaphor for their own redemption.