Dressing for Success

Patricia was worried. She had a job interview, and she wanted to look good. She decided to get some new clothes. The store owner, Pallas Hansen, helped Patricia find a suit. But when she left the store, she didn’t pay for the suit!

How could Patricia do this? She was in a special store called Career Closet in San Jose, California. Pallas Hansen and Charlotte Krumwiede started this nonprofit store to help women. They knew that many women don’t find jobs because they don’t have the right clothes for a job interview. Women who don’t have a lot of money to buy food and clothes for their children. They can’t buy clothes for themselves.

Pallas and Charlotte started the store in 1992 after they heard about a store like this in Chicago. Volunteers work in the store. Working women donate most of the clothes to the store. This makes it possible for the customers at Career Closet to get clothes for free.

Career Closet has helped 2,500 San Jose women. But clothes aren’t the only things women get at the store. They also get confidence. Patricia is 36 years old. Her husband was hurt in an accident, and Patricia needed a job to support her seven children. She went to Career Closet and got a jacket, a skirt, and a blouse. “The whole day made me feel special,” she said. Patricia was a success at her interview, and she go the job. One reason she got it was because she was wearing the right clothes for the workplace.

Pallas says, “I love this job. Sixty percent of the women get jobs. It’s like being a fairy godmother.”