MARYLAND (DC News Now) — Iqrama Muhammad is the owner of The Peaces Collective, using her love for sewing and her creativity to give back.

“We hear all about the problems in the community, but I want to focus on the solution,” she said. “A lot of times, people need to have things that they are passionate about, have something to do.”

With home economics classes missing from many school curriculums, she’s trying to bring back the principles that are usually taught. She has been teaching young people how to sew in Howard County and in Baltimore, since 2018.

“Sewing teaches so many lessons,” she said. “It’s also about how it may relate to some issues you may have; it also can be relaxing and therapeutic.”

“Sometimes when you don’t know that you can create things, then sometimes you can feel powerless,” she said. “I like for people to come out feeling confident.”

“It also opens up the opportunity to start conversations, a lot of times young people are struggling with issues that they don’t necessarily talk about,” Muhammad said.

The non-profit also raises money for community projects.

“Once a month, on the third Wednesday of every month, we have a forum online where we invite speakers and experts,” she said. “The topics range from financial literacy; we’ve had several speakers talk about health in the Black community.”

The former sales representative for a newspaper also started another initiative, known as “Sowing for the Soul.”

“I love gardening,” Muhammad said.

“I think the seeds of service comes from my grandmothers,” she continued.

She also wants to share the fruits of her labor with young people.

“We want to open this up to that community,” she said. “I worked with a youth group one time and this was in the city, we were having lunch and (someone) had never had a tomato, so I think it’s important that we be exposed to some of these things.”

“I think that our young people in particular are hungry for this.”

“I work with children because that’s where the foundation is. If you can give children a good foundation, then… they will grow up and thrive,” she said.