Help Them Dress to Impress
What do you wear to a job interview when you are homeless or trying to get off welfare and you don’t own a business suit? There’s an answer in Clothes the Deal and Dress-4-Success, two nonprofit agencies that depend on donations to provide clothing for a good first impression.
Demand, of course, far outstrips supply as welfare reform prods recipients by the tens of thousands into the work force. In many cases, they are seeking their first job and have literally nothing appropriate to wear.
Clothes the Deal, founded in 1995 by Ann Gusiff while she was a graduate student at UCLA, has helped 20,000 clients get appropriate business wear. The clothes, donated largely through corporate clothing drives and word of mouth, are given to more than 50 welfare-to-work programs, homeless programs and others. An additional 47 service providers are on a waiting list.
Dress-4-Success, founded four years ago by Janet Lavender, who once was homeless after a long period of unemployment, has outfitted 8,000 women and men. The beneficiaries are referred by more than 50 agencies to locations downtown and in the San Fernando Valley.
Lavender works directly with clients, coordinating outfits and demonstrating by her own example that obstacles can be overcome. Her goal is to provide a total make-over: hair, makeup, new outfit and shoes, helping build self-confidence to approach the world of work. If she had more outfits, she says, she would provide enough clothing for employees to wear until they got their first paycheck.
Both agencies need more clothes, new or used. They are especially seeking larger sizes, 12 to 28, for women, and suits size 44 and larger, with matching shirts and ties, for men. They also need loafers and other shoes, particularly in size 10 and larger. Donated clothing should be dropped off in good condition, dry-cleaned and on hangers. Shoes should be polished and in excellent condition.
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To Take Action: Call Clothes the Deal’s information line, (310) 791-7583, or Dress-4-Success at (213) 629-3537.
