Dress for Success
Two of PlanetOne’s mighty team members, Dawn and Maricela, recently volunteered at Dress for Success in Phoenix. Dress for Success is an international not-for-profit organization that empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and the development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.
Since 1997, Dress for Success has expanded to more than 150 cities in 27 countries and has helped nearly one million women work towards self-sufficiency. The Phoenix branch alone has dressed more than 6,000 women since January of this year!
The majority of the clothing, accessories and makeup come from donations of new or very gently used high end clothing. In addition to helping women dress for an interview, the organization helps build their confidence with an on-site volunteer-run career center which offers coaching for interviews and a weekly program, Going Places, which provides coaching and support until clients find a job.
After clients have accepted a job, Dress for Success offers them access to a professional women’s group for ongoing support, practical information and inspiration. This group helps the women remain employed so they can truly thrive at their new careers and deal with obstacles such as managing their finances and other challenges that corporate culture can bring – something career novices are often left to navigate with little or no support.
Dawn and Maricela spent their time receiving and sorting the donations of clothing, shoes and accessories received the previous day, then ironing all the clothing for distribution.
They also had fun displaying the clothing, shoes and accessories on the racks and assisting the clients picking out the perfect interviewing outfit.
The team’s verdict: “The smiles that we saw were priceless and the experience was inspiring and empowering to see what a difference a hand-up can mean towards self-sufficiency and a path to a new life.”
Thank you Dawn and Maricela for volunteering your precious time and helping From the Heart make the world a better place!
