By Jessie Darland

A pleasant aroma wafts out of the basement of a church in Olympia, and little brown bags line the wall inside filled with candles ready for pickup. Workers are stirring and setting wax downstairs, and a woman knocks to gather her handmade candle. 

Her purchase was created by Eiman and Maguno, two refugees who have been employed with Relume, which recently set up shop at Reality Church. The company has a mission to help people seeking safety in Olympia find work.

Relume was founded by Karima Bassalé and Rand Roedell a few years after they both volunteered for World Relief Western Washington, an organization that was helping refugees settle in Thurston County. Bassalé and Roedell both became friends with some of the refugee families and found that many of them struggled to find work. 

A little later, Roedell’s daughter wanted knick-knacks for Christmas to fill up her new living space. He searched online and came across an organization out of Tennessee that sold candles to help victims of human trafficking, and the beautiful stories about the people involved touched Roedell.

The impact of the candle he bought for his daughter inspired him to think about how something like that could help his refugee friends.

“So, I started talking to a few people about the idea, including Karima,” Roedell said. “I said, ‘OK, if I’m going to have a business making candles, I should figure out if I can make candles.’”  

He did some research, went to a candle supply store to pick someone’s brain about the idea, and realized it was actually pretty feasible.

“And so over the next probably year, the idea just kind of germinated. And then in March of this year (2025), Karima said, ‘Hey, that candle thing. We should do that,’” Roedell said. The next six months were spent planning, and production began at the beginning of October 2025.  

The name “Relume” means to relight — both a play on the product being a candle and the feeling Roedell and BassalĂ© want their company to bring. 

“We are relit with hope every time we hang out with them,” said Roedell about the Relume employees.

Their desire is the light and hope that Relume tries to embody is being spread to other businesses too, and that they become interested in hiring refugees. Roedell said he sees the need for his refugee friends to have meaningful employment. 

“We can’t meet that need, but we could do this thing,” Roedell said. “And that’s what we did, we made the decision to do this thing, and who knows how it will grow and what will come of it — both directly with respect to Relume, but also these other things that people do because they hear about us and they see us. So that’s something we are just super, super excited and encouraged about.” 

Already, other people have approached him about hiring refugees for businesses they’re thinking of starting, he said. 

“It’s hard to see our friends get looked over,” BassalĂ© said.

She explained that there are many jobs that don’t really need a formal education or good English, but it’s still hard for refugees to obtain them.

“It isn’t just about us relighting hope for them and giving them employment, but we are relit with hope every time we hang out with them, and when we see people in the community come around and help and support. It’s emotional,” BassalĂ© said. “It relights hope for us.” 

Eiman and Maguno

Eiman is a young woman from Syria with children, who came to Olympia in December 2023. Her favorite scent from the candles she makes is Cedar and Fig, and she said she really enjoys everything about working at Relume. 

“Olympia is beautiful,” said Eiman in Arabic over a translation app. “I’m happy living here.” 

Maguno came to Olympia in June 2023, escaping Congo. Moonlight is her favorite scent.  

“I’m happy because at least it gives me something to help me,” said Maguno in Swahili about her work at Relume.  

Maguno lived in Tanzania for 30 years in a refugee camp before she came here, said Bassalé, and Eiman lived in Jordan as a refugee since she was 10 years old.

They’re both learning English, so during their Relume work sessions someone comes in to help them with conversation and learning new words so they can get paid while improving their language skills.

They also take English classes at South Puget Sound Community College. They were given paid time off for the holidays and often share family meals with Bassalé and Roedell.  

Being refugees, the women were a bit concerned about safety and Relume helped them find some. BassalĂ© said when they first spoke to Maguno about working with Relume, she responded, “How wonderful it would be to have a safe place to work.” 

 Maguno and Eiman make about 120 candles a day, and work on Mondays and Fridays at Relume. They have to be very detailed about measuring amounts, the candle temperature and when they start pouring the wax into the glasses, which are then set on a shelf to harden, cleaned, packaged, and either sent to someone around the country or picked up by someone local. Relume has sold candles to several states outside of Washington, such as California, Iowa, Alaska, Texas and New York. 

So far, Relume has sold more than 1,500 candles, and the community has been very supportive. Bassalé and Roedell are thankful for Reality Church allowing them to use space in the building for very little charge, and friends helped them build the workspace, so it serves their purpose well.

Community members have been hosting “Light and Learn” events at their homes where the candles are sold, and the stories of the refugees and Relume are told. A couple of local businesses like a crossfit location and a hair salon sell the candles for no profit, which came from introductions through other community members.  

“The other businesses are just responding with,’Hey, how can I participate? How can I help? Not how can I make money from you, right? But how can I help?’” said Roedell, who added it’s been beautiful. 

Someone with a 3D printer made a piece to fit over the glass jars to hold the wicks in place while the candles set, and businesses have ordered candles in bulk as employee gifts. Word of mouth has been the most instrumental tool in getting people interested in Relume’s candles, and people often ask how they can help, BassalĂ© said.  

“One of the things that we’ve heard a lot of times is people who are not satisfied with the state of affairs in our country in respect to how the current administration is responding to refugees and immigrants and so forth,” Roedell said.

“And there’s often this sense of, ‘I don’t know what to do,’ and buying a candle from Relume is something they feel like, ‘This is a thing that I can do that makes a difference.’” 

Inside the box with the candle is a card with some information about Relume and Eiman and Maguno, who created the candles. Relume also focuses on sustainability with its products. The jars the candles come in are made from recycled glass that are reusable, and the candles themselves are made from eco-friendly materials like U.S.-grown soy, which is tested for impurities, phthalate free, no fillers with cotton wicks. 

They’ve found that the sustainability aspect is also important to consumers. Out of the three scents — Moonlight, Cedar and Fig, and Olympic Forest — Olympic Forest is the top seller. Eighty to 90% of the candles are sold through the website, but Relume has also had a few booths at local events, like the LoveOly Winterfest. The candles can be shipped or picked up locally at the church.  

Eventually, they’d love to expand and help even more refugees work at one time. Right now, BassalĂ© and Roedell both have day jobs, but they spend as much time as they can planning, meeting and working with Eiman and Maguno, without burning themselves out. Roedell said they’re dreaming beyond candles and are putting in their own money to get things going, along with a lot of appreciated help from the community.  

Relume, which can be found on social media, encourages people to share their story so they can help more refugees find work. Relume’s website and shop can be found here.