By Suzanne S. Brown, Special to The Denver Post
On weekday mornings, a women’s boutique in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood bustles with activity. Personal shoppers are helping clients select clothing they’ll wear to job interviews, or as part of their everyday work wardrobes. Women browse through neat racks of suit jackets, pants, skirts and blouses. They also try on shoes in a separate room, and select handbags, jewelry and intimate apparel in another area.
But Dress for Success, at 1510 High St., is no regular clothing store. First of all, everything is free, including the styling advice offered by volunteers. And once clothing is selected — by appointment only — clients get something more. They receive one-on-one career counseling so they can polish their resumes, brush up on interview skills, or just identify what kinds of work they get the most satisfaction from doing.
Women are referred to the organization — one of 140 Dress for Success locations in 21 countries — from workforce centers, shelters, halfway houses and a variety of social service organizations. They are typically living at poverty level or below, are unemployed and seeking work. Some are victims of domestic abuse or have spent time in prison. Others have had health issues and are just down on their luck. They range in age from their teens to over 60, but most are 24-44 and have high school educations.
Once they are scheduled for a job interview, clients can shop at Dress for Success for an outfit. And when they land a position, they can return to select a starter wardrobe of a week’s worth of clothing.
They’re women like Neilee Lujan of Lakewood, 43, a single mother who recently found a job as an intern in human services in the family, children and youth department for Jefferson County. She was grateful Dress for Success was offering her both wardrobe help and career advice.
“I was nervous about what to expect,” she said, “but my experience was so uplifting it has helped give me more confidence. They’ve helped me realize you don’t have to give up on your dreams.”
That’s the part of DFS that appeals to Amara Martin, who worked at Nordstrom before becoming program director at Dress for Success nine years ago. Tall and stylish, Martin can often be found on the boutique floor helping women find looks that fit and flatter them. She knows the transformative power clothing has to make a woman feel good about herself. But Martin is also the first one to talk about how important it is to build a skill set and learn how to hold on to a job in order to get ahead.
“Retention is big,” Martin said, adding that her ultimate goal is to keep clients moving “from a job to a career.”
The work DFS is doing is not just good for the women involved, it also benefits the larger community, she said. “Since we started 10 years ago, we have worked with 10,000 women. That’s a massive impact on the city.”
Among the programs Martin coordinates is the Professional Women’s Group, which is made up of DFS clients who meet monthly to network. Women with little employment experience find challenges in the workplace and can learn from others in a safe setting through the group, Martin said. The DFS clients run all aspects of the meetings, which builds their leadership skills as well.
Dress for Success doesn’t wait for clients to come to them, either. They visit such organizations as the Women’s Bean Project, Mi Casa Resource Center and Jewish Family Services with a program called Going Places Network. The goal is to help women learn professional skills and advance their job searches through weekly training sessions, coaching and networking. Topics covered include customer service, self-marketing and developing transferable job skills.
It was at a Going Places Network meeting that Kimberly D. Edwards first got involved with Dress for Success, through a referral from Jewish Family Services. She had lost her job, was broke and suffering from depression when she began attending meetings. The series helped her work on motivation, meeting educational goals, communicating and becoming self-sufficient, she says.
“Those seven weeks changed my outlook on life,” says Edwards. She’s now 47, an empty nester and close to finishing her studies at the Community College of Aurora to be a paralegal. With a background in office administration, scheduling, planning meetings and working with suppliers, her goal now is to build her own business helping startups, nonprofits and entrepreneurs organize their companies.
She has also become a DFS ambassador, representing the organization at various events. In addition, Edwards volunteers her time to businesses that reach out to her for help, and she is working to build a paying client base for her administrative services. “This organization has been a platform for me to rebuild myself,” Edwards says.
For its efforts in the Going Places Network, the Denver affiliate won the Compass Award at the 2015 Dress for Success Worldwide Conference, said Guadalupe Pep Torres, executive director of the Denver affiliate. Only one affiliate in North America is selected each year.
Torres says her goal for the organization as it starts its next decade isn’t to get bigger, but to get better at what it is doing with its programs and community outreach. With a budget of about $300,000 and a staff of just three full-time and two part-time employees, it relies on donations, volunteers and the community to help keep things running.
“We are looking for more partners in fashion and the corporate world,” says Torres, noting that it helps “elevate our brand and profile in the community.” Among those efforts is the group’s upcoming fundraiser and 10th anniversary celebration on Nov. 4. Neiman Marcus is doing a fashion show at the event, which will be held at the Ritz-Carlton Denver. (See box for ticket information and details.)
Torres says she hopes to find more supporters such as CBIZ, a Denver tax and accounting firm, that do clothing drives and also make direct financial contributions to Dress for Success.
While Torres spends a lot of her time pitching DFS and its programs to the community, like Martin, she enjoys engaging with clients. “I like being on the floor because I get to hear their stories and see what that little bit of clothing can do for your confidence,” she says.
The same thing happens in the conference room when women meet with job counselors like Vicki Keller, who worked in the business world for several decades before volunteering for DFS. “Most of the women don’t have the opportunity to talk one-on-one with a professional about their work,” she says. “They struggle to find what their accomplishments are. We look for ways to help them feel better about themselves.”
Celebrating a decade: Dress for Success Denver will celebrate 10 years of helping local women at its Winter Fashion Gala on Nov. 4 at the Ritz Carlton Denver, 1881 Curtis St. Tickets, $100, include a fashion show by Neiman Marcus, hors d’oeuvres and cocktails, a silent auction and entertainment. Info: Denver. dressforsuccess.org; 303-832-1889
Donate to Dress for Success: Dress for Success accepts donations of seasonal women’s work attire and accessories the second Saturday of every month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at its headquarters, 1510 High St., Denver. Among the items needed are interview-appropriate business suits, blouses and pants, as well as business-professional separates such as skirts, dresses, blazers and jackets. Also accepted are work-appropriate shoes, jewelry, scarves, handbags, briefcases and portfolios. Donations should be in good condition, on hangers and either dry cleaned or laundered. Check the website for more details. Monetary donations are welcomed. Info: Denver.dressforsuccess.org; 303-832-2531
Second Chance Sale: Dress for Success will host a sale of clothing and accessories donated by local retailers and community partners on Dec. 2 from 4 to 9 p.m. and Dec. 3 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. New items will be added each day; 1510 High St., second floor (location subject to change; check website: Denver.dressforsuccess.org)
By the numbers: 30 women get clothing and counseling advice each week at Dress for Success Denver; 100 hours are contributed each week by DFS volunteers; 78 percent of the women going through DFS programs get jobs; 76 percent of the women who graduate from DFS programs remain employed.