Charity Inc.: Dressing For Success

Who doesn't love a good makeover? And when a makeover literally changes a person's life for the better, the results are all the more impressive. Jo Ann Holback sees these kinds of results all the time. She is the executive director of Suited to Succeed, a nonprofit organization that provides professional clothing to women in the Baltimore area who are moving from welfare or underemployment to the workforce.
"The before-and-afters are amazing," says Holback. Women who arrive in scruffy T-shirts and jeans put on business suits and are transformed instantly. "In five minutes, they look completely different. If you walked by them on the street, you would assume they worked in any professional office downtown."
Suited to Succeed was founded in 1997 by a group of business people who realized that some of the best-trained job candidates didn't have any appropriate clothing to wear to work. The nonprofit began with seed money donated by the founding board members, Snelling Personnel Services, Network 2000, and Procter & Gamble. In 1998, Bank of America offered deeply discounted office space in their flagship building in downtown Baltimore. Since its inception, Suited to Succeed has helped more than 5,000 women enter the workforce; in 2006 it served 1,392 women—a substantial increase over previous years.
Job seekers are referred through the Baltimore Department of Social Services and job training programs operated by such organizations as America Works, House of Ruth, and Catholic Charities. In addition, Suited to Succeed recently partnered with the Red Cross of Maryland to serve disaster victims.
The nonprofit survives on donations, mostly from local businesses and charitable groups. The Daily Record, which names Maryland's annual Top 100 Women, has in recent years asked honorees to each donate a suit. "Some of the suits are phenomenal," says Holback, citing brands like Nordstrom, Jones of New York, Talbots, and Ann Taylor. All clothing is dry-cleaned and in good condition. When they start their job training, clients can choose two free outfits, including shoes and accessories when available. In exchange, they volunteer their time to help sort donated clothing. When they schedule an interview, each client gets two more outfits, as well as a fifth when they get a job. Suited to Succeed also sells a $10 "client package" consisting of several more items of clothing.
Summer, 28, is one of many success stories. Referred through America Works, she says the staff at Suited to Succeed "works wonders." "They don't let you walk out of there looking a mess." Wearing a suit "felt awkward at first because it really wasn't my style of dress," says Summer. "But once you put it on, you feel different. It grew on me." But to Summer, now working at a meat company, Suited to Succeed is about more than clothes. "The women that work there are wonderful people. They treat you like you're human. They make you feel like you belong in the clothes."
To help cover operating costs, Suited to Succeed holds public sales of surplus and out-of-season clothing on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at their office on Credwood Street downtown. The organization, which employs just four part-time staffers, also offers tax credits to corporate donors. The tax credits were awarded to the nonprofit from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. In exchange for a $500 donation, for example, businesses will receive $250 in Maryland state tax credits, and can claim the charitable donation on their state and federal taxes.
At present, Suited to Succeed has a particular need for maternity clothing and larger sized shoes and business attire (size 8 and up for shoes and size 14 and up for clothing). "We feel what we do is not just the icing on the cake," says Holback. "We're a main ingredient in getting a job."