CHARLOTTE — Dress for Success Charlotte is celebrating a big anniversary. The organization has been serving unemployed and underemployed women for 25 years.
Channel 9’s Elsa Gillis visited their Charlotte office to learn just how much of a difference they’ve made and the challenges that lie ahead.
Dr. Karen Kyei-Fordjour Gardner says it’s been about 17 years since she first walked through the doors of Dress for Success Charlotte — a single mom who had lost her tech job in the 2008 economic crisis.
“It was very stressful at the time,” she said. “A lot of crying, trying to make ends meet.”
She and her then 6-year-old son were living in poverty, but she says Dress for Success changed her life.
“They help you to look into yourself, look internally, to say, what skills do I have? What skills do I need to work on? And from that, you’re able to build,” she said.
She already had masters degree and ended up finding her calling in teaching. She’s still a teacher at Hough High School and advocates for Dress for Success whenever she can.
Dr. Emily Wheeler is the Charlotte chapter’s executive director. She says the organization has served more than 13,000 women over the past 25 years.
Wheeler says they’ve grown from just providing free, professional clothing, career coaching, financial education, job training and more.
However, the need keeps growing. This year, alone, they’ve seen a 50% increase in requests for help.
“We’re seeing and hearing that it’s taking them longer to find jobs, and they’re having to apply to many more jobs and that they’re getting more certifications,” she said.
Dress for Success says women are economic amplifiers. When a woman emerges from poverty, she brings as many as six people with her. Take Gardner and her son, who is now a nuclear engineer, for example.
“I’ve never, ever shared this, but my parents and my grandparents were sharecroppers, and my grandparents were not allowed to go to school,” Gardner said. “Organizations like this that afford you the opportunity to make a difference generationally turn the page, and now my son, his future is bright. I say to my students, ‘your futures are bright,’ so it continues.”
Dress for Success is in the process of moving to a new office. It’s in west Charlotte where a large percentage of their clients live.
If you’re looking to support the organization, you can donate gently used professional attire, money, or your time through volunteering.
VIDEO: Woman credits Dress for Success Charlotte for career turnaround
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