Working World

In 1991, an Orange County marketing communications executive named Jerri Rosen wanted to do something for women who were coming out of domestic violence shelters. She knew these women were emerging into a world where they needed to be employable, so they could be independent and free to make good choices for themselves and their children. Many women in that situation have little work experience, don’t know how to go about finding a job, and have no suitable interview or workplace clothes.

Jerri organized a group of professional women, held a clothing drive, and gave 67 shelter residents wardrobes and motivational speakers at a Day of Self Esteem. What was intended to be a one-time event was so appreciated by the recipients and so satisfying for the volunteers that it became an annual project. From this simple beginning, Working Wardrobes for a New Start was created and later incorporated as a nonprofit organization.

Building on the success of the Day of Self Esteem, a career services center was set up to provide clothing to at-risk women year-round to help them make a good impression on potential employers. It also did wonders for their self-esteem to be properly outfitted, which inspired and motivated them during the daunting job search process. In later years, programs for men were added and services to needy youth were extended to the special day.    

Working Wardrobes, based in Fountain Valley, now has a staff of 18, over 1,500 volunteers, and a budget of more than two million dollars. Through referrals from dozens of social service agencies and organizations serving people emerging from all types of life crises, Working Wardrobes assists over 4,500 people every year in taking their first steps toward self-sufficiency. Services now include not only wardrobing but job search, life skills, career development workshops, retail training, and a career development center that provides access to computers, interview coaching, and job leads and referrals.

Jerri, as CEO of Working Wardrobes, has instituted a social enterprise business model to keep the organization financially stable. There is a fee-for-services arrangement with the referral agencies and four retail operations open to the public (one general merchandise thrift store and three “hanger” stores with upscale resale clothing and accessories). All of the stores’ revenue goes back into client services and programs. Clients often staff the stores to get retail work experience.

While there have been referral partners from Los Angeles County and an occasional Day of Self Esteem held there, this year has seen an organized effort to bring Working Wardrobes’s services northward on a permanent basis. An auxiliary fundraising group has been formed specifically to support Days of Self Esteem in the South Bay and a volunteer-staffed Women’s Day in Torrance was held in September 2008.

“I feel like I’ve got the best job in the world,” Jerri said in an interview with the OC Register. “I feel like I’m richly compensated because I get a chance to see volunteers and clients interact. It’s always magical to see the transformation when someone is treated with dignity and made to feel special, worthwhile and valuable.”

Jerri received the 2008 Soroptimist Making A Difference For Women Award and has received many similar honors in the past; she was named in OC Metro Magazine as one of “10 Women Making an Impact” in 2005.      

Full Disclosure: This columnist has been Working Wardrobes’s paid grant writer for two years.  

Suzanne Ridgway is a freelance writer and regular columnist for Working World and Working Nurse magazines. Suzanne also writes grant proposals for nonprofit organizations.