From the sidewalk, Angel Concept looks like any other fashion boutique. Clothing, hats, jewelry and trinkets fill the windows to lure customers inside.
Once you cross the threshold, however, you’re greeted almost immediately by a woman, a handshake and a story. Angel Concept empowers and employs disadvantaged women from across metro Denver. Within its walls, the women build the confidence and learn the skills necessary to thrive in the workforce and improve their lives, its leaders and participants say.
Each quarter, the nonprofit at 2510 W. Main St. in downtown Littleton hires three women to work alongside volunteer mentors. They’re required to be clean cut, dressed in gray, white and black clothing and ready to work — just like the volunteers. This way, customers have no idea who is a trainee and who is a trainer. Labels and stereotypes the women have faced are kicked to the curb. Each woman works in the store for about three months, learning the ins and outs of retail, how to greet customers and how to sell products. Most importantly, they’re respected, founder and owner Sue Hosier said.
The volunteers are “always willing to give out a hand to others to let them know, ‘Hey, you’re important to me. You matter. You’re valuable. You’re worth being loved. You’re worth being shown attention,’” said trainee and Colorado School for the Blind student Mickey Payne.
Payne has limbal stem cell deficiency, which has left her with “low vision.” She has attended classes to learn how to manage her vision, but says for years she’s otherwise been essentially housebound. Her biggest obstacle is mustering the confidence to go outside, she said. With tears welling in her eyes, Payne described how Angel Concept volunteers have given her the courage to believe that regardless of her condition, she’ll be a valuable asset to another employer.
“Being able to come into a place and not be frowned upon or looked down on makes a big difference,” Payne said. “At this place, it doesn’t matter where you came from or what you did. They’re willing to work with you no matter what. It doesn’t matter if you’ve had problems with drugs or alcohol or if you’re blind or if you’re handicapped in any way — they’re willing to help whoever they can.”
Five percent of every purchase at the shop goes to charity. Customers choose a recipient from a list of nine charities, including Angel Concept, that help disadvantaged women. Donations earmarked for Angel Concept help fund the women’s wages and cover other expenses at the boutique.
Hosier compares working at the boutique to working at a high-end, retail store.
“We go to market, we buy wholesale, and we sell retail just like a normal store,” Hosier said. “We wanted them to get the whole experience of what it is to truly work retail. You have to have a certain markup if you’re doing retail. You have to do inventory if you’re working retail, because you bought all this stuff, and you have to know what it costs. It really is the whole experience.”
The women are referred to Hosier and manager Nicole Gigler through social service agencies and other organizations, but they have to interview for the position — just as they would before landing any other job. Hosier said the experience is structured toward workforce preparation. She wants the women to be ready to build on their experience.
The women must prove they’re ready and willing to become self-sufficient. About 60 percent of the women who complete Angel Concept’s program move on to find stable jobs, Hosier said.
“Most — not all, but most — of our women know how to work. They just have no self-esteem left because they’ve been through such horrible circumstances in life,” Hosier said. “In our job training, we work to give them their self-esteem back so that they are able to go and find a job that they keep.”
Hosier was once in a similar position to many of the women she now helps — in a self-described “destructive domestic situation.” She got back on her feet, moved to Colorado and retired from a 25-year nursing career, she said. She founded Angel Concept in 2012 as a way to support women who find themselves burdened but aspire to overcome those obstacles and improve their lives. Since then, more than 60 women have been trained in the store.
Hosier lives in West Morrison but chose to open the shop in Littleton for its central location and its proximity to bus stops and the light rail. Shoppers can easily find the store, and trainees can get to and from work regardless of their transportation method. Many of the store’s early volunteers commuted 30 miles every day from Conifer because they wanted to see the shop — and the women — succeed, Hosier said.
“We like to say we’re in the business of helping people move forward with their lives,” Gigler said. “We’re not going to focus on the past. We’re here to say, ‘Today is a new day.’”
When asked to share the greatest lesson she’s learned from Angel Concept, Payne replied with just one word: acceptance.