Dress For Success Regina opens new downtown location

A relocation has piqued the interest of new clients and donors says Barb Byers, the Chair of the Board for Dress For Success Regina.

Dress For Success Regina is a not-profit organization that provides women with business attire to wear to job interviews. When the women secure employment, Dress For Success also provides them with clothes for their first couple weeks on the job.

Previously located on the third floor of Westminster United Church, the non-for-profit has moved to a new downtown location on 1920 Hamilton Street.

“The new location is really significant because it is an accessible location…We were on the third floor without an elevator of an office annex for the church. And it was difficult, we had clients that we couldn’t serve because they couldn’t go up the stairs. We had volunteers that couldn’t volunteer because they couldn’t (go up the stairs),” says Byers.

The new location is on ground level and when clients walk in, they are taken directly to the fitting room where they will discuss their needs, and volunteers will find clothes that the women feel comfortable and confident in.

Byers says it’s not just clothes that they are providing.

“We are about building confidence. It’s not just about the clothes that people wear, but the confidence they have when they go into work, and when they are in the community, and putting their best foot forward.”

Catherine Curtis, the CEO of Dress For Success Canada Foundation, was in attendance for the grand opening on Tuesday.

“Congratulations to Dress For Success Regina on their interest and desire to continue to grow and serve more women. And their enthusiasm about expanding their programming and continually looking forward, so that they can continue to serve more and more women in the coming years.”

Dress For Success Regina did 130 suits last year, according to Byers. They hope that number increases now that they are in a more accessible location.