Sewing a New Story

Stuff We Love

April 27, 2024

Qayum Qayumi arrived in northern Michigan last summer with his family as refugees from Afghanistan. With help from an Afghan support group based at Grace Episcopal Church in Traverse City, he was quickly connected with TentCraft. The TentCraft team put him in front of one of their industrial sewing machines and was amazed at his skill—gained from working with his father from a young age. Last November, Qayumi won a best pitch competition at CommonGrounds for his idea for a new tailoring business. Earlier this month, he received a Special Tribute from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for his exemplary work at TentCraft as a sewer. “It’s hard to adjust to a new place that is 100 percent different from every angle,” Qayumi says, “but we got a lot of support from community and TentCraft management and coworkers who give me hope and value my experiences.”