Vista Vocational, whose mission is to provide services and resources to individuals with disabilities, has opened Creations in Madison, a socially-conscious enterprise where all revenue goes back to programming, and employs students of Vista in the retail shop. Usually my expectations for gift shops with this business model are not incredibly high, but I was surprised by this one. You could easily drop a pile on the goods here and make a serious dent in your holiday shopping! And, even better, all the merchandise is from the Atlantic Seaboard, with plenty of goods from Connecticut. Plus, the Creations buyers choose vendors whose products reflect the same socially-concious values. I loved loved loved the Coco Chanel and Frieda Kahlo dolls, Mission maple syrup (a portion of the proceeds are donated to educating the younger generation about conservation), local maker Wild Sage Apothecary’s teas, Burly Stone’s manly soaps and creams, these cushy socks from American Trench, and lots more. You won’t walk away empty handed, plus you’ll be doing some good for our community. It’s well done and a total win win.