Tees at Risk support teens at risk

“My name is D. I am a 16 year old boy. I ran away from home for the first time when I was 13 because my dad had a drinking problem and it was too violent. I spend some of my time in a juvenile detention center because I cut school with some friends and we got into serious trouble with the police. This picture shows how I feel when I\’m at the detention center and my hope for something better in my life.”

It was for teenagers like D. that two American transplants in Israel started Tees at Risk in 2011. The idea is simple yet innovative: Invite troubled or disadvantaged youths to design t-shirt art, and then sell the garments for 25 apiece to benefit the very institutions that help these teens.

Even more innovative, Tees at Risk is neither a for-profit nor a non-profit entity. It is the only apparel company in the 600-plus list of certified B Corporations, which uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. B Corporations pledge to give away a certain percentage of the sales price (in this case, 10 percent) to charity. 

Co-founder Ben Wiener, 42, explains that he and his friend Richard (Nahum) Kligman share an interest in helping troubled teenagers succeed in life. Kligman worked with an Israeli rehab program for girls, while Wiener is a board member of the Orthodox Union, which sponsors the Zula, a downtown Jerusalem drop-in center and program for teens involved in drugs, alcohol and promiscuity.