CINCINNATI -- Dozens of women experiencing homelessness got some help through a handbag Wednesday afternoon.
The Purse Project fills handbags with essentials, from health and hygiene items to snacks, and gives them to women at the Esther Marie Hatton Center in Mount Auburn. Two carloads of donated purses arrived at the center Wednesday.
Nicole Lewis, who came up with the idea for the Purse Project about a month ago, reached out to friends and family asking for donations. She and her 8-year-old daughter, Olivia, filled the more than 80 handbags given out Wednesday.
"I just really wanted me daughter to appreciate what it is that we're doing, and to share God's love and to feel that people care about them," she said.
Though Wednesday was the first purse delivery, Lewis hopes to eventually turn the Purse Project into a nonprofit and expand it further.
