Women enter through a narrow door on Fourth Street. Everything is beige.
And old. They head toward the cramped elevator, step inside, and their
guide presses the number three. She makes a point of touching it just at
the right spot, "about 11 o'clock," to make sure the creaking door
closes.
As the elevator lurches upward, the number on the display reads "six."
"It's an old building," Lisa McDaniel Brown, advancement director for
Dress for Success, explains the idiosyncrasy as she welcomes visitors to the third floor.
When the door opens, there is a sort of "Wizard of Oz" moment, when the
grayness of the city street morphs into a Technicolor field of oranges
and greens, colorful, spring-inspired cushions on window seats and
stylish women's clothes hanging on the wall like artwork.
Women who have been referred by social service agencies and other
organizations sit on the window seats. They fill out paperwork and chat
with the staff of mostly volunteers who will gather sizing information
and then help each guest find a suit and the proper accessories needed
for a job interview. They will not pay a dime.
In the suiting area, racks of matching dress suits and shoes line the
walls. Dressing rooms designed by California Closets are spacious and
bright. Earrings, bracelets and necklaces create a sparkling jewelry
counter. Colorful scarves, the signature Dress for Success accessories,
hang up and down a pillar. "By the time they leave, their heads are
higher," says McDaniel Brown.
Since Mary Ivers founded the local Dress for Success non-profit as only
the 20th affiliate in the country, much has changed. Now there are
nearly 300 locations around the country. The Cincinnati operation has
moved twice, but always stayed on Fourth Street, making it convenient
for women to donate as well as shop in the
Fourth Street Boutique.
The Boutique, a resale shop that offers bargain prices to every shopper,
stocks a wide range of women's clothing, shoes and accessories. Its
sales, along with grants and donations, fund the Dress for Success
operation, which may "suit" more than 30 women per week.
"These women have nothing," says McDaniel Brown. "They are coming out of
prison, halfway houses, homeless shelters and running from abuse." They
know, first-hand, that in order to move forward, there is literally no
going back.
At Dress for Success, they get more than an appropriate interview
outfit. Once they land jobs, women can come back for a week's worth of
work clothes, all free, and join the
Professional Women's Group, which offers professional development seminars every month.
Do good:
•
Host a party.
Whether you invite friends and co-workers to the Fourth Street Boutique
for a night of shopping and hors d'oeuvres or host your own party, make
the price of admission a fresh accessory or suit.
•
Share your talents. Volunteer to be a personal shopper or give an informational talk to the Professional Women's Group.
•
Go shopping.
You can't beat the prices at the Fourth Street Boutique. Don't forget
to visit the basement, where clothing items sell for between $1 and $5.
By Elissa Yancey
Photo courtesy Dress for Success Cincinnati
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