WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — They say it takes dedication to make a difference, and for Kiera Miller, tattoos have been a way to do that.
“I love bringing people's ideas to life. It really brings me joy, and I like to use art to give back,” said Miller, the owner of Resilient Rise Tattoo.
However, there’s a deeper story behind the ink.
“I myself spent five years homeless, and I was at the end of my rope, ready to give up, and somebody brought me a hot plate of food and reminded me I was still a person. It lit a fire in me,” she said.
Miller took that pain and founded Ink for Impact back in 2022, which started as giving away Thanksgiving meals. However, years later, she hosted her very first community donation drive, collecting clothes for those experiencing homelessness, in exchange for some free tattoos.
“Hitting rock bottom really opened my eyes,” Miller said. "There are a lot of programs that try to help the homeless, but people don't understand when you are at the end of your rope, when you have nothing left, you feel like the world has forgotten you, you feel like you could just disappear tomorrow when nobody would care. I know how that feels, and if I can prevent just one more person from feeling that pain, that's worth it to me."
Miller also has Impact Weeks, where she takes her tattoo earnings and donates every penny towards these events, trying to make a difference in a world that needs more empathy.
“We, as a human race, have forgotten our humanity... just because somebody is a little less fortunate than you does not mean that they need to be looked down upon,” she said. "There's enough hate in the world. We don't need any more of it.”
