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Dress for Success Helping Women Get on Their Feet and Get Ahead

Nongovernmental organization outfits, mentors needy job applicants

Landing a full-time job is often a prerequisite for achieving adult independence, but for economically disadvantaged women with limited skills, a professional career path may seem hopelessly out of reach. Since 1997, the nongovernmental organization Dress for Success has been working to help low-income women find meaningful employment, providing them with career-appropriate suits and career-development services.

From its grassroots beginnings in New York City, the organization - now known as Dress for Success Worldwide - has evolved into a global enterprise with 81 affiliates in cities across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the Netherlands. With "suits to self-sufficiency" as its motto, the group serves job-ready women who are referred by more than 3,000 social-services agencies, including agencies that deal with domestic violence, homeless shelters and job-training programs.

Dress for Success initially provides each woman with an interview suit, at no charge, according to Suzanne Elliott Armstrong, director of corporate and media relations for Dress for Success Worldwide. Then, after the woman has been hired, she returns to Dress for Success and receives up to one week's worth of business-appropriate separates (jackets, blouses, skirts, trousers), also at no charge.

At the same time, she is invited to join the Professional Women's Group (PWG), a career-development and networking group that meets monthly. "It's a lifetime membership" that offers mentoring and support, said Armstrong.

Many PWG staffers, who are previous beneficiaries of Dress for Success, "have been with us for nine or 10 years," she added. "Now they are the mentors."

Typically, a woman who comes to Dress for Success already is receiving job-skills training, Armstrong said. "The real point of her first visit with us is to receive her outfit and boost her confidence" before she goes to a job interview.

A PATH TO SELF-SUFFIENCY

When a woman comes to Dress for Success, she is assigned a "personal shopper" - a volunteer from the organization - to help her pick out an interview outfit, and she is given a copy of the booklet "Steps to Success," which offers advice on how to manage the first 30 days at a new job, Armstrong told USINFO. Clients also have access to the Career Center's resources, including a computer and a fax machine.

Dress for Success collects data to track its clients' progress as they transition from unemployment to economic independence, said Armstrong. "We look at self-sufficiency indicators: for example, whether they retain their jobs, receive raises and promotions, establish their own households, [and] set up savings accounts," she explained.

Corporate sponsors provide more than 80 percent of the funding for Dress for Success, although the organization emphasizes that individual donors are important contributors, as well. On the corporate side, "we receive an annual $5 million donation which consists of apparel, shoes, cosmetics, accessories, and professional career services such as workshops and online training" for needy women, said Armstrong. "And most of our affiliates hold their own annual fundraisers. We also have a major gala [event] in April each year in New York."

Since its inception, Dress for Success has helped some 350,000 women achieve self-sufficiency, and the organization is considering expanding its operations into other countries, Armstrong said. "We hear from many, many countries, and from every continent," she noted.

Dress for Success has attracted a great deal of favorable media attention, but its strongest endorsement comes from the women it serves. "Over 70 percent of our clients are single mothers, and they always tell us how the program has transformed their lives," said Armstrong. "And the work they do to change their lives has a tremendous impact on their children and their families."

To build upon their clients' achievements, about 50 Dress for Success affiliates participate in an annual Success Summit, which Armstrong described as an advanced leadership exercise for women.

"It's held in a different city each year," she said. "This year, it will be in Washington, D.C., in July." The PWG of each participating affiliate will nominate a client to attend, and these clients are charged with leading and organizing a public-service effort in their own communities. "One group had a senior prom for a retirement home in their area," Armstrong recalled. "Others have staged health fairs and toy drives, or made a presentation to women in a homeless shelter."

The group's Web site indicates that Dress for Success programs are highly effective: 57 percent of PWG members have furthered their education, 60 percent have improved their credit, 62 percent have been promoted and received salary increases and 75 percent have retained their jobs after one year of employment.

What is most important is that the majority of Dress for Success clients move from poverty to self-sufficiency, the group says.

Additional information about Dress for Success Worldwide is available on the organization's Web site.

Source: U.S. Department of State