CAREER DEVELOPMENT
more than 500,000 women since first
opening its door in 1997. We are
Dress for Success Success Stories
proud that our message resonates
across all geographic and cultural
boundaries. We have affiliate loca- Annabel Adams
tions in more than 90 cities across the After being raised by alcoholic parents who
U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Nether- both succumbed to their addictions and losing
lands, New Zealand, Poland, the UK, her grandmother who raised her and her sister,
and the West Indies. Annabel Adams was forced to grow up quickly.
Dress for Success relies on a high- From the age of 15, Annabel was experimenting
caliber volunteer pool to provide with drugs, alcohol – following down the same
services to deserving women. path of destruction as her parents.
Because of the recent change in It wasn’t until 22 years later when Annabel
employment status affecting individ- finally decided that her life was “unmanageable”
uals of all economic means, our vol- and in desperate need of change. She became a
unteer network has expanded. Attor- Christian and sought help at the Walter Hoving
neys, fashion industry executives, Home, a rehabilitation facility in upstate New
human resource specialists, financial York. After completing the program, she came to
planners and others are available to New York in search of a new beginning. Annabel
work with clients on weekdays and entered the Bowery Mission in July 2008 and was
weekends. The increase in the num- recommended for the Dress for Success Retail
ber of volunteers has allowed us to Training Program. After participating in all of
expand outreach efforts to partner the organization’s programs that provided her with much needed professional
agencies and to offer more services to development, she was pleased to have found a place where people believed in her
our clients. potential and wanted to give her a second chance.
The first impression is so impor- Through the Retail Training Program, Annabel obtained a job at the Lowes
tant and that is why the suit is the first Regency Hotel in New York as a housekeeper. Unfortunately, her position was
step on a woman’s path to self-suffi- eliminated because of unforeseen lay offs within the company. She has, however,
ciency and financial independence. bounced back in record time and recently secured employment as a personal assis-
As our career counselors will tell you, tant managing a household.
“You want to give an interviewer “With Dress for Success, I didn’t feel like such an outcast and I am blessed to
every reason to hire you and not a sin- know that there are so many opportunities that lay ahead for me. I want to be able
gle reason not to.” to empower other women the way Dress for Success has empowered me.”
About Dress for Success Vania Wynter
Dress for Success is an internation- Vania left Jamaica and her difficult memories of sexual abuse for a fresh start.
al not-for-profit organization that pro- After settling in New York City, she was raped by a man she trusted, and soon
motes the economic independence of thereafter she became pregnant and homeless.
disadvantaged women by providing Vania made the decision to rebuild her life after years of struggling to support
professional attire, a network of sup- her family. She earned her GED, then an administrative assistant certificate, and
port and the career development tools following this, she secured a lucrative internship at a law firm in New York. The
to help women thrive in work and in firm then hired Vania as a full-time legal assistant.
life. Since starting operations in 1997, Vania received a week’s worth of professional clothing from Dress for Success
Dress for Success has expanded to and became a member of the Professional Women’s Group, which taught her valu-
more than 90 cities in the U.S., Cana- able career development tools while opening new doors for personal and profes-
da, Mexico, the Netherlands, New sional growth.
Zealand, Poland, the UK and the West Vania remains employed at the law firm and has recently started school to
Indies. To date, Dress for Success has become a paralegal.
helped more than 500,000 women “Dress for Success renewed me and uplifted me. They helped me to rise above
work towards self-sufficiency. the obstacles I’ve faced and see the future. As a single mother with four children, I
Visit www.dressforsuccess.org to see the differences they have made for me and my family.” PWM
learn more. PWM
26 PROFESSIONAL WOMAN’S MULTICULTURAL MAGAZINE www.professionalwomanmag.com
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