Featured Member: Dress for Success River Cities

We are excited to announce that each month, we will be featuring a different WVNPA member organization that is making a difference in their community. This month, we take a closer look at Dress for Success River Cities.

Dress for Success, located in Huntington, provides a network of support, professional attire, and development tools to empower women to achieve economic independence. This year marks their affiliate’s 10th anniversary and during this time they have served thousands of women!

Dress for Success River Cities is an affiliate of Dress for Success Worldwide,  an international organization that serves women in more than 142 cities around the world. Dress for Success River Cities serves women throughout 13 counties in West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky.

Executive Director Jessica Hudson is passionate about the organization’s work.  “Being able to provide these women with a professional look and demeanor truly makes a difference when they meet with a potential employer to interview for a position.” Hudson says Dress for Success enables women to look and feel their best and give them the resources to allow them to put their best foot forward so that they can gain employment, become self-sufficient, and take care of themselves and their families.

The organization recently started working with women in the Step Up for Women Advanced Manufacturing Pre-Apprenticeship program. This program provides training for women in what are considered non-traditional fields. The program boasts an 80% job placement rate, and women completing the program benefit from increased earning potential. “Although outside of the realm of what our organization typically provides for women entering the workforce, this is the perfect partnership for our organization,” Hudson says. Dress for Success provides the women with steel-toed boots and clothing needed for training and interviews and also helps with resumes and interview skills.