Olivia Vest
Managing Editor
With unemployment rates remaining fairly consistent and an uncharacteristically low number of American adults seeking employment, one non-profit organization shines in Wichita, and around the world.
Dress for Success, a group with affiliates located in 21 countries globally, strives for women empowerment and seeks to help women around the world become financially stable and independent.
With services ranging from Suiting to Job Training, Wichita’s Dress for Success offers amenities that help women find jobs and grow confidence as well as grow in their careers with Employment Retention and Career Services.
If a client chooses to utilize the organization’s Career Services, she is prepared for employment by helping perfect and update her resume and being assisted with her job search. Personal shoppers help clients in finding a business suit and accessories for job interviews within the organization’s High Street Boutique. The clients are also given haircut vouchers and necessary toiletries. After a client has found a job or internship, she can return to the boutique to help build her business casual wardrobe with eight pieces of her choosing, ranging from handbags and jewelry to khakis or scrubs.
“Everything is free, and they get to keep everything,” Wichita’s Dress for Success Program Coordinator Charity Heizer said. “All of our clothes are donated by either individuals or corporations. We’re able to really provide clients with everything they need, including undergarments. We have career coaches that work one-on-one with clients to help do everything from resume review to cover letter creation; we can help them with the job search process.”
Volunteers and staff members working with Dress for Success experience many rewarding things through their work.
“My favorite thing is working with the clients,” Heizer said. “I like the end result, when you put the clients in a great outfit, and they walk a little taller. I like seeing the transformation of clients who stay involved [with the organization] through our other programs. You can watch them transition through this part of their life. You see where they started and a year later, they’re genuinely thriving whereas before they were just surviving. I love being able to share in that.”
Hundreds of individuals provide assistance to the organization with regularly scheduled volunteering hours within the High Street Boutique, providing donations, or by helping out with special events throughout the year, such as the organization’s upcoming sale.
“I would say our volunteers are really the backbone of what we do.” Heizer said, “If anyone was interested in volunteering, we take anyone from people who are willing to help out weekly to dropping in to help with boutique assistance. We have volunteers on a mailing list who come to help out with events like our upcoming sale. Last year, we had about 300 volunteers who came out on some basis to help everything happen.”
The organization accepts donations of women’s business and business casual clothing (including jewelry, handbags, and shoes) as well as unused undergarments and toiletries. Mary Kay consultants and a wide range of corporate donations also help provide women with unused makeup items as well. One of the groups greatest needs is for black, interview-appropriate handbags. Through its services, Wichita’s Dress for Success helps give approximately 600 garments to those in need every month.
Individuals looking to provide donations to Dress for Success can take clothing to several Miller’s Dry Cleaning locations in Wichita or directly to the organization’s High Street Boutique on Mondays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.