wellington | gives
Dress For Success Helps Women Put Their Lives Back Together By Deborah Welky
“Jane” moved to Florida with a husband, two children and a degree in bioscience. The marriage ended, and Jane suddenly found herself the family’s sole provider. The timing couldn’t have been worse — the job market had just fallen apart and Jane couldn’t find work. Although she never expected it in her wildest dreams, soon she and her children were homeless. “She was referred to us, and we enrolled her in our New Directions job readiness program,” recalled Diane Wilde, founder and CEO of Dress for Success Palm Beaches. “Following 10 weeks of three-hour sessions, she had her confidence back. She ended up getting a job at Scripps and now has her own apartment.” The story is important, because many people believe that Dress for Success merely provides professional clothes to those who need them for a job interview. In fact, the organization does so much more. “It’s a worldwide organization with 138 affiliates in 18 countries,” Wilde explained. “I got involved because the organization appealed to me — it was about women who were already trying to help themselves.” Wilde open the local chapter in Lake Worth, then moved it to Lantana last year. Recently, her group qualified for a grant through the Quantum Foundation so they could receive business counseling from No Margin, No Mission. “This is a new trend in the nonprofit world — social enterprise,” Wilde explained. “Although people who donate to charities like to stipulate that their donations not be used to fund the costs of overhead, we still need a regular income stream in order to keep our doors open. Quantum wakes donors up to that, as well as helping organizations function like well-run businesses.”
To that end, Dress for Success will be opening its first retail shop soon. “Heels ’n’ Steals” will be located in the same Lantana building, selling clothing that is not suitable for the nonprofit’s clients. “Sometimes people with means donate clothing that is way too fancy or too casual for us to use — Lily Pulitzer and St. John knits, for instance. We used to have a sale a couple of times a year, but now we will put those items in our shop,” Wilde said. The things Dress for Success needs most are new or used black purses, new lipsticks and new mascara. Clients must be referred by another nonprofit agency, one that can assure Dress for Success that the client truly is looking for a job — interviewing, attending job fairs or simply handing out applications. “Women need to look professional for any of those,” Wilde said. “So we give them a suit, a top, toiletries, makeup, jewelry, a handbag, shoes. It’s soup to nuts. When they leave here, they’re feeling pretty darn good.” A personal shopper guides clients through the process and, when the woman gets a job, the referring agency sends her back for a week’s worth of clothing. While many items are previously used, toiletries, underwear and bras are new. Denise O’Sullivan, a Wellington resident, called to find out how to donate some suits and ended up donating her time as well. “I got hooked,” O’Sullivan
said. “They were having a volunteer meeting at the place I brought the suits, and I spoke with four different people who were at the meeting. They liked my energy and my background… I liked how vivacious everyone was.” O’Sullivan was a perfect fit to run the New Directions program. “I help to build their confidence,” O’Sullivan said. “In the beginning, their body language says, ‘Why am I here?’ I tell them, ‘You’re all special and there’s a reason you were brought here. If you remain open for the next 10 weeks, you will learn a lot about yourself and what you can offer to others.’ Then it’s like watching a butterfly open up. The first woman I mentored, Jane, had a college degree but she had gone through the foster program when she was young. There were some rough edges. At the end of 10 weeks, she had made an unbelievable turnaround. She was being considered for two jobs at once.” O’Sullivan gets a great deal of satisfaction from the work. “I get as much reward and satisfaction volunteering as the participants get when they find a new job,” she said. “I share in their excitement and love to watch the transformation.” In addition, O’Sullivan enjoys her co-workers. “I truly enjoy all the other volunteers,” she said. “It’s a dynamic group of women — a retired attorney, self-employed entrepreneurs — their backgrounds run the gamut. And I like our founder, Diane Wilde. She’s a dynamic leader, and she built this from the ground up. Her wheels are always spinning.” O’Sullivan also thinks her work giving back sets a good example for her 11-year-old son, Shawn. “I tell him, ‘Wellington is a special wellington the magazine | april 2015
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