Dress for Success with Shea Johnson

Our Program on March 21^st was a talk by Shea Johnson. She described the mission and activities of the non-profit group she works with, “Dress for Success”.

The local office of this international group is in St. Paul’s Midway District, just off I-94 and Snelling. This group of women collects good quality clothes from donors and retailers, and gives them to women who are trying to get back into a meaningful job. Most of their clients are women who have been out of work because of long hospital stays, serving jail time, or in abusive relationships. To get back to work, they need to dress properly for their job interview, as well as have proper clothes to wear to their new work.

Their clients are mostly referrals from social agencies, and each woman is assigned a mentor. Together, they select clothing for the interview, and for on-the-job. The process doesn’t end after the woman is hired, because the mentor meets with her several times to get her comfortable with her new work.