Welfare to Work - Clothing Charities

Online Resources and Tools

Dress for Success
This CBS/60 Minutes story, which aired Sunday, May 23, 1999 profiles the founder of this clothing charity and demonstrates how much a "smart suit of clothes" can do for the self-esteem and prospects of low-income women. To order the video ($29.95 plus shipping and handling), call (800) 848-3256; to order the transcript ($6-7 plus shipping and handling), call (800) 777-TEXT. Dress for Success Worldwide, which oversees and supports approximately 30 individual Dress for Success Sister locations, licenses the name to the sister organizations and handles global outreach, fundraising and events. For more information on the program, visit the web site http://www.dressforsuccess.org/sisters/worldwide.html (contains links to a section called "background and history," which touches on start-up efforts, and an excellent FAQ section for those interested in getting their own locations going); or, email info@dressforsuccess.org.

Bottomless Closet Chicago
In addition to outfitting welfare-to-work women in professional clothes, this volunteer-driven boutique/program provides women with career development training. The program’s web site provides overviews of clothing intake (procurement), inventory management, marketing strategies and fundraising activities. Contact information: 445 N. Wells, Suite 301 Chicago, IL 60610; phone (312) 527-9664; fax (312) 527-4305; web site: http://www.bottomlesscloset.org/chgo.html

There are many programs similar in mission to "Dress for Success." Links to the web sites of these programs, plus contact information, can be found at http://www.dressforsuccess.org/cousins.html. This site is a gold mine of information!

Suggested Reading
(retail, entrepreneurial training for those who do not have experience.)

The Beginning Entrepreneur, by John R. Matthews (Vgm Career Horizons, 1993)

How to Start and Run Your Own Retail Business: Expert Advice from a Leading Business Consultant and Entrepreneur, by Irving Burstiner (Citadel Press, 1998)

The Guide to Retail Business Planning: The Complete Handbook for Creating a Winning Plan for Any Type of Retail Business by Warren G. Purdy (Inc. Pub, 1998)

The 4 Routes to Entrepreneurial Success, by John B. Miner (Berrett-Koehler Pub., 1996).

Collaboration Skills for Educators and Nonprofit Leaders (Building the Village), by Hank Rubin (Lyceum Press, 1998)

Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Practice and Principles, by Peter Ferdinand Drucker (Harperbusiness, 1993)

© Public Health Institute, Center for Civic Partnerships 1999

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