Dress for Success will expand services

A $75,000 grant from Glick Family Foundation will allow Dress for Success Indianapolis to reach and empower hundreds more women in the workplace.

Julie Petr, executive director of Dress for Success Indianapolis, said the funding will allow access to more services.

“Being able to open our doors on an evening to be able to provide services for someone who maybe is not able to get away during a weekend between 12 and 2. Being able to open up hours so we can prove more access to evenings and potential weekends,” Petr said.

The organization had to eliminate staff and services during the pandemic. But now those services will return to reach more women.

“I think this year we will easily serve 800 women. Going into 2023 I think we will be back to where we were in the past, we’ll be over a thousand women potentially every year.” The pandemic has also changed how women dress for the workplace. “We know our employers want their candidates to look professional, but that may not mean in 2022 what it meant in 2019,” Petr said.

The organization promotes economic independence, provides programs to raise self-esteem, connect women with professional resources, prepares women for employment, and assists in establishing a network of support to help women thrive in work and in life.

Dress for Success Indianapolis also addresses transportation barriers by providing gas cards, bus passes, and is working with community partners to provide services at satellite sites around Central Indiana.

Since its launch in Indianapolis in 1999, more than 17,000 women have been served.

Contact WFYI Morning Edition newscaster and reporter Taylor Bennett at tbennett@wfyi.org. Follow on Twitter: @TaylorB2213.