Dress for Success Denver

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Impact Statement

Top Five Goals:

I. Help women secure employment by providing professional suiting.

II. Increase awareness level in the greater Denver community, publicize its good work and communicate to all in need the resources that DFS has available to them.

III. Secure a major sponsor(s) whose funding will sustain the program and insure growth of services to the community.

IV. Assure that the DFS staff, volunteers, and board members work in concert to accomplish the goal of helping as many needy women as possible.

V. Support women in the Professional Women’s Group, to increase their skill development and career advancement.

Needs Statement

I. Monetary Donations
$25.00 Accessorize an outfit
$50.00 Suit- small or average size
$75.00 Suit- medium to large size
$100.00 Plus size suit
$150.00 Sponsor a PWG member
$200.00 Suit, sponsor a PWG member
$250.00 Suit, sponsor and enroll a PWG member in career center

II. Professional Clothing Donations

III. Volunteers - Professional Shoppers, Fundraising, etc.

IV. Corporate Sponsorships

V. Visibility in the Community

VI Board Member Development

Background Statement

In 2005, Kathy Bacon decided that Denver needed to have a Dress for Success Denver. She applied to re-open the affiliate in 2005. In February 2006 she was awarded the affiliate. From there a Board of Directors was founded, and a space off of Colfax and Ogden was home. Women’s suits were donated from several generous women in the community. Kathy found volunteers to launch the program and get the women suited and on their way to job interviews.

In the first year alone 780 women were suited with 65 returning because they had secured employment. Dress for Success now has a Professional Women’s Group with 12 members that meet on a monthly basis. Our goal is to have 30 members by the end of 2008. The PWG measures our success.

Executive Director Statement

Dress for Success Denver resolves the “Catch-22” dilemma that confronts disadvantaged women trying to enter the workforce: without a job, how can you afford a suit? Without a suit, how can you get a job?

Shortly after Dress for Success was founded, we became well-known for providing suits to disadvantaged women returning to or entering the workforce. Our mission has expanded; the suiting program remains a crucial part of our work and a vital first-step in a woman’s journey toward self-sufficiency. Each Dress for Success client receives one suit when she has a job interview and additional apparel when she becomes employed.

Dress for Success Denver provides more than just a suit. We provide accessories such as scarves, jewelry or other interview-appropriate items. Our goal is for each woman to leave Dress for Success Denver with a complete outfit that will help her secure employment.

After a client acquires employment she can return to Dress for Success Denver for additional employment attire. At that time we attempt to provide her with enough additional apparel to mix and match for a week’s worth of outfits.

Women come to Dress for Success Denver by referral from 93 non-profit agencies. Each client works one-on-one with a highly trained volunteer Personal Shopper. These volunteers’ help our client’s select professional attire and also provide coaching and support as the women prepare for upcoming interviews.

Every woman who comes to Dress for Success Denver is treated with dignity and respect and can walk through our doors feeling confident and welcome. We focus on helping each woman prepare for the journey ahead of her. Our concern is not where our clients have been but rather where they are going.

Board Chair/President Statement

On behalf of Dress for Success Denver I am proud to share with you about this outstanding organization of which I am a board member and ask for your support. Dress for Success Denver has been known as an organization that provides business suits to women who are re-entering the workforce after hardships and difficult circumstances. Although we still provide suits – and do so in great numbers (we suited our 2000th woman in late 2009) – we have significantly expanded our scope and reach.

We are currently in our third year of a very successful program called the Professional Women’s Group and have also developed a Career Center to further expand our mission of promoting the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.

By supporting an organization like Dress for Success Denver we can provide you with an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of women in our community while at the same time responsibly investing your monetary contributions in programs that are sustainable and make a lasting difference.

At Dress For Success Denver it is our mission to serve the women of our community. We may provide them with a suit for a job interview but they leave the office with much more than just an interview outfit. Women leave our office with a Vision: the Vision of themselves as something that they have never seen or maybe lost.

Our clients have the Vision, but I dare to ask: “Do we?” Dress for Success Denver must continue to serve. We are supporting the women who will work in our offices, who will work in our government, and who are raising the children who will run our country.

At Dress for Success Denver, we are going "Beyond the Suit" and WE ARE CHANGING LIVES!!

The following is a letter that we recently received from one of our clients:

Dear Staff,
I want to thank you for all your support with Clothes and job interviewing techniques that were given to me when I came 2 weeks ago. I was scheduled to come last week on Tuesday at 11:00 am. I was called at the last minute for a job interview and opted to go to the job interview. I found out this week that I was not chosen for the Book Keeping position, but I am still looking.
I have used the techniques of selling my experience and maturity and it is working. I just wanted all of you to know how grateful I am that you are there for women that need the look and interviewing skills to go with a good resume. It has been a great push in the right direction. Thank you again.

Warmest Regards,
Bonnie Anderson