Dress for Success Philadelphia Takes Spring Garden Street by Storm
Submitted by Marjorie Nightingale, Executive Director, Dress for Success
Dress for Success Philadelphia is a private non-profit organization that promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. The Philadelphia affiliate is a part of the Dress for Success network that has over ninety affiliates worldwide.
Dress for Success Philadelphia opened its doors on July 1, 2008, on Spring Garden Street and has served over 1,600 women in the first six months of operation. To put this in perspective – Dress for Success Philadelphia has met the needs of more women in six months than most of their affiliate partners in major cities (such as Chicago and San Francisco) meet in a year. In addition, the number of referrals they receive each month keeps pace with the three flagship boutiques in New York (Manhattan, Queens & the Bronx) combined. The impact of Dress for Success in this community has been profound, and they have generated a waiting list of community organizations that want to refer clients.
Dress for Success Philadelphia is aggressively fulfilling its mission to assist women who are transitioning from welfare to work. It is staffed mainly by a dedicated pool of volunteers who are serious about helping women who are eager to make a better life for themselves, for their families and for their communities. Each woman is treated with the dignity and respect that all working women deserve - regardless of where she starts.
The large number of clients who are referred monthly reflects the increasing need in Philadelphia to provide assistance to women who seek to better themselves. Dress for Success Philadelphia sees this as an opportunity to create a groundswell of change in the hearts and minds of women who may otherwise remain dependent on social services. In addition to providing clothing, the focus of its programs is work retention. What good is a pretty suit on a woman who can’t keep a job? Struggling women who are re-entering the work force, or who are entering it for the first time need to know how to keep a job once they have gained employment. Through its Professional Women’s Group (PWG), they provide ongoing wrap around services to employed clients to help them maintain employment and to assist them with building successful careers. The PWG is composed of professional women from the community who volunteer their time, talent and skills to educate, to inspire and to encourage the clients through monthly meetings, and seminars, and by serving as mentors.
At Dress for Success Philadelphia, we accept the challenge of our new President to do our part to make this a better community one woman at a time. We seek partners both public and private that support our work and our mission. More information about Dress for Success Philadelphia can be found at www.dressforsuccess.org/philadelphia or by contacting Executive Director, Marjorie Nightingale at Marjorie@dressforsuccess.org.
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