Straight Off the Rack

Welcome to Straight Off the Rack: where you get outfitted with the day by day wears of Bottomless Closet NYC! Here you can celebrate with us when our clients find work, or when we have new volunteer groups come in to work their magic in our boutique. These are just a sample of things among the many that continue to happen at Bottomless Closet.

In the past year alone we have grown exponentially and have been able to connect with so many new volunteers and donors. It is our hope that through this update you can become a Bottomless Closet ambassador and continue to spread word of our mission to provide NYC women with the confidence and skills they need to succeed in life.

Check back periodically – you’ll be sure to find new wears Straight Off the Rack!

JANUARY, 2011

2010 was a great year for Bottomless Closet. We experienced an even greater growth in clients and programming than 2009. New Friendships were established through new volunteer opportunities and events.

Corporate Volunteerism was given a boost through teams from BNY Mellon, The NY Liberty, Willis, Deutsche Bank, Splendid & Ella Ross, Charles Schwab, NBC, and Goldman Sachs, just to name a few. Several networking events were held, which included events by The Transition Network, SUNGard and Women 2 Women.

SUNGard
Charles Schwab member reviews a client's resume	NY Liberty players pose with volunteers

New programs were instituted to provide women with the skills to create a personalized resume in an electronic version and work with a coach to navigate the tricky maze of online job searching. The Online Job Search Initiative was launched in April 2010 as a pilot program to train, not only clients, but volunteers as well, to successfully use the 6 laptops, graciously donated by Hewlet Packard.

Becky leading online job search workshop	Becky_Rodskog

In May, we were moved to tears during our Annual Luncheon to recognize both the clients and the coach each woman worked with to achieve success. It was an amazing that reintroduced almost 500 guests to the mission of Bottomless Closet. Thank you to all who attended! To view pictures.

New fundraising initiatives were brought to life. e.l.f. cosmetics created a limited edition Beauty Boost Kit (promotion no longer available); Galian Handbags designed the Bottomless Closet briefcase; and Catherine Zadeh created the Bottomless Closet “Connections” bracelet. Proceeds of all fundraising initiatives will benefit Bottomless Closet clients and the programming used to launch successful women into the workforce. To read more and to purchase the briefcase or bracelet,.

Last year, Bottomless greatly increased its media presence. We were featured in several blogs and newspapers including a wonderful piece in AM New York featuring Jacirys Dominguez, a volunteer, who after being laid-off, began to assist women at Bottomless Closet. Read more here.

The end of the year brought with it amazing events, beginning with our most successful Evening of Art under the Stars held at Matthew Marks Gallery featuring a silent auction, the best to date. The auction featured items ranging from spa manicures to relaxing vacation getaways to sports memorabilia. Not only did we have success
at but, Bottomless Closet was chosen as the beneficiary charity for several different charity events, such as the Bloggers Soiree and the Joseph Ribkoff style event with Ms. America. Visit us on Facebook for more details.

The year closed with the grand finale of the Client Graduation. Almost 80 clients gathered to celebrate the clients who graduating from the Bottomless Closet Curriculum of Workshops and the end of an amazing year. The 11 graduates were women who had successfully completed the requirements of the Professional Development or Financial Management Series of workshops. To view pictures of the Graduation click on photo.

Thank you to ALL who made last year one to remember!

Welcome all to another week of Straight Off the Rack where you can get your new additions to your Bottomless Closet wardrobe.

Monday started off with a bang with a group of volunteers from Deutsche Bank. The women worked on organizing the boutique for Monday’s Separates Night, when clients return to redeem the points they earn at workshops for clothing. This is a great incentive for our clients, not only can they get great information from the workshop but they can supplement their wardrobes by attending. Best of all it is all free! A separate group from Deutsche came as well Wednesday evening to help with inventory and boutique management. Click here for information on the types of workshops our clients take part of. To lead a workshop, complete a volunteer form and indicate your topic of interest.

On Wednesday morning, volunteers from Splendid & Ella Ross revamped the mannequins and display outfits in the boutique and main rooms. The mannequins look hip and ready for work. Great job ladies!

Volunteers tackling the mannequins
Volunteers sprucing up the “sweater wall” and sorting through the racks

Thank you to those who help us keep in touch with our clients. Our client numbers have doubled in the last year alone and the need to keep them coming back to Bottomless Closet is very important. Our volunteers are helping by calling our clients and asking about their job process. From the 483 clients contacted this year alone, 71 % were hired!!
We cannot thank our volunteers enough for all their help this week.

A special THANK YOU goes out to our regular daytime volunteers who weathered the heat outside (and inside) to continue their shifts at Bottomless Closet.



JULY 13, 2010

We are having an eventful summer at Bottomless Closet. Several of our friends and partners have held events to benefit Bottomless Closet that have generated much press, awareness and necessary funding.

Our board member and friend Kate Post hosted a networking and awareness event with the group Women 2 Women. Several clients were outfitted for the event and received hair styling and makeup by Faith, a Women 2 Women member and stylist. The fundraiser was a hit and raised over $5,000.00 for Bottomless Closet. Thank you to Kate for all that you do and Women 2 Women for their support.

JUNE 15, 2010

Bottomless Closet clients at 2010 Annual Spring Luncheon

It is summer at Bottomless Closet!
The summer season is a time to slow down and relax, but your definition of slow might not be the same as ours. We continue to serve record numbers of clients and it seems like every day is at least one new volunteer is ready to tackle the mountain of donations that continue to arrive.

You may already know that this year we have had an unprecedented increase in the number of clients we have seen and this trend shows no sign of stopping. In April we saw a record 243 clients and in May that record was broken when at the end of the month client number 278 walked through our doors. Already between June 1st and June 10th we dressed and coached 99 clients!

Each client has a unique story to tell and all of us who get to hear at least one are reminded that a positive outlook is the key to a better and brighter future.

Haydee, a recovering addict with 2 children, came in for post-employment appointment recently, immediately warmed up to the staff and wanted to share her story. She is excited to be working again, but is regretting the time she wasted while in the grasp of her addiction. She is on the right track to independence, but finds it daunting to live with the fear of succumbing to drugs again. She is also homeless, but looks forward to the day when she can have her children with her again and her job is the first step to that goal. As she walked away she thanked us for what we do. We spoke of keeping only the positive things in your life and not looking back.

Yuen, an Asian immigrant, is an amazingly optimistic woman who just happened to look great in everything that we found! She walked in wearing jeans and a t-shirt and when she left she was wearing a suit that looked as if it was made for her. Yuen was all smiles and ready for her interview. She even offered to translate our surveys into Chinese as a thank you for everything that her employment coach had done for her. “The clothes were nice, but the advice that Diane gave me is worth a million dollars!”  She put a smile on all our faces.

Dolores is a client who turned to Bottomless Closet again when she was laid off. She initially came to us at the beginning of the year for a pre-interview appointment and then for a post-employment appointment after she had secured her job. Dolores attended workshops regularly and when she was laid off she called us to get help updating her resume again. We were amazed at how positive she is. She is already using the connections she made at Bottomless Closet and at her previous jobs to network her way into a new job. She has even begun a home cake baking business.

Clients like Haydee, Yuen, and Dolores remind us every day why our mission is important and why we all do what we do. Thank you to all of our donors and volunteers who help us to fulfill that mission. 

Bottomless Closet success stories

MAY 21, 2010

What an amazing week this has been for Bottomless Closet!! Not only were we all moved to tears at our Annual Spring Luncheon but we were visited by some remarkable women of New York!! Some of the members of The New York Liberty women’s basketball team helped close out yet another great week at Bottomless closet. 

On Monday many of the Bottomless Closet family were asked to “open the doors” of Bottomless Closet to honor our wonderful group of volunteers and the great work that they do for our clients at our Annual Spring Luncheon. Several clients and the volunteers they work with spoke to the crowd of 500 at the Marriott Marquis.  Attendees were exposed to the magic that happens behind the doors of Bottomless Closet.  Yolanda, a client since 2009, spoke of her stumble into poverty and her rise to self sufficiency. But it was not until attending a workshop with Dr. Leslie Seppinni that she learned to live life excuse free. Dr. Leslie gave us a glimpse into her own personal struggles and spoke to us about living life with "The 4 C's: Curiosity, Conviction, Courage and Commitment."

Nishari was joined by Priscilla, the volunteer who worked with her when Nishari returned for her post-employment workshop. Nishari was one of the first clients Priscilla worked with and helped to cement her desire to continue as a Bottomless Closet volunteer. Nishari spoke of the workshops she has taken part in and has, at the ripe old age of 21, started saving for retirement as a result of the Retirement 101 workshop led by Tami Peter.

Sandra had everyone reaching for their tissues as she told of her struggle to overcome the barrier of language and culture as a new immigrant to the US. Sandra was joined by Christine Chang, volunteer financial mentor and board member, who works with clients like Sandra, to develop a savings plan and establish financial goals.

Client with Executive Director, Kendall Farrell
Dr. Seppini and Lakiesha with clients
Ty and Yolanda looking very much like ladies who lunch	Client, Hina D.
Board members, Katie Watkin and Arlyn Gardner

Tuesday the trainers for the online job search initiative met to hone their training. Thank you to Ann and Becky for taking time to train our volunteers so they can support our clients to gain the job search skills they need.

Wednesday rocked!! A career day with Charles Schwab, a networking event with SUNGard and a visit by The NY Liberty rounded out an amazing day.

A large group of Charles Schwab employees held a career day for 18 Clients from The Parks Department They talked about the different roles they hold and also discussed each client’s resume and what they should expect during an interview. Several of the employees were men and the women loved hearing a “man’s perspective”. Thank you to Joette and her team from Charles Schwab for their generosity!

Charles Schwab employees during mock interviews with clients

Jessica Land and Kendall Farrell with employees from Charles Schwab

Last year we began a relationship with The NY Liberty, what a great thing this has been! In 2009 the WNBA honored Sheila Lambert, board member and founder, at the Inspiring Women Night. In addition they provide our clients with complimentary tickets to home games! The games are action packed and for many of our clients, the games are a way to release some of the stress from their hectic lives. Wednesday afternoon four members of The NY Liberty visited the office. It was a surprise to that day’s clients. The players helped dress clients and shadowed our volunteers through the coaching process. Two of them actually dressed our mannequins!! Read the full story here. Thank you to the awesome ladies of The NY Liberty. You rock and we will be sure to chant along with the rest of your fans L-I-B-E-R-T-Y!

Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Anne with client

Tiffany Jackson and Cappie Pondexter dressing the mannequins

The players pose for a picture with Jessica and volunteers

Cappie Pondexter and Jessica Land

A group from SUNGard rounded out Wednesday night with a networking group and clothing drive. They were introduced to us at a previous networking event held at Bottomless Closet by the President’s Council of Cornell Women of Cornell University.  SUNGard hopes to continue their partnership by possibly holding a career day similar to the one held that morning by our friends from Chuck. We appreciate all that they do and look forward to their continued support. Please contact us if your organization would like to hold a networking event or corporate volunteer event.

SUNGard group	Donations collected at event

Finally, what a better way to close the week than with some heartwarming letters from some very deserving young people from Community School 211 in the Bronx? Thanks to our donors and friends from MBooth & Associates and JC Penny, who sent us a large donation of children’s book bags, we were able to celebrate the children from CS 211 and their perfect attendance!! Please see below for some of their amazing letters.

Thank you to all!! This was truly a week for the books. Make sure to come back next week for more wears Straight Off the Rack!!

MAY 18, 2010

Yet another wonderful week at Bottomless Closet – 80 clients dressed, young professionals recruited, and large donations arrived!

Amid preparations for the Annual Spring Luncheon and the scheduling of what seems to be a record number of clients, there was not one dull moment at Bottomless Closet.

The week started off with an explosion – of candy – at Dylan’s Candy Bar where the Young Leadership Council of Bottomless Closet held its 4th Annual Shoes in the City event. Shoes in the City is an awareness event, silent auction, raffle, and accessories drive, geared towards young professionals. The hope is that most of the attendees will become the younger generation of Bottomless Closet volunteers.

Katie Watkin, member of the Young Leadership Council and member of the Bottomless Closet Board of Directors, spoke of her experiences as a daytime volunteer and the many clients she assisted. The clients continually remind her why she loves to volunteer at Bottomless Closet. Each success she plays a part in speaks to her drive to help.

Lindsay Costello, also a member of the Young Leadership Council, spoke of her journey as a Bottomless Closet volunteer. A year ago, Shoes in the City introduced her to our cause, sparking her drive to help. Lindsay, laid off, decided to volunteer during the day.  She quickly fell in love with the amazing women that come through our doors every day. After gaining employment, Lindsay wanted to remain a part of Bottomless Closet, and she decided the best way was to join the Young Leadership Council. She now holds workshops on Creating Your Own Oprah Brand – teaching clients how to successfully market themselves.

Shoes also included a silent auction and raffle. This year, we auctioned an Oscar de la Renta jacket and a reservation at the Waverly Inn. The raffle winners walked away with prizes including handbags by Inge Christopher and a Paloma Picasso Tiffany pin. We raised over $1500!! The successful evening was filled with delicious food, mouth watering sweets and the amazing thing called a Clodhoppers! YUM! A BIG thanks to Fatima Bautista and the staff at Dylan’s Candy Bar!

Sheila Lambert held an electronic resume building workshop on Tuesday – just another step in the online job search initiative. Thank you to Sheila and all the trainers who make it possible for our clients to continue on the path of becoming self-sufficient.

This week appears to be a record setting week (yet unconfirmed). Bottomless Closet and its tireless staff and teams of volunteers dressed and coached 80 women! It sure feels like a record! Several of these clients went on interviews, one of which returned after her interview to send an email thank you. Taking our suggestions to heart, she made her first thank you note a success. She is motivated to return to work and is taking all the right steps!

We outfitted many of the women for Bottomless Closet's Annual Spring Luncheon which took place at the Marriott Marquis on Monday, May 17, 2010. The suits donated 2 weeks ago by our friends at Jones Apparel Group dominated the selection of wares flying off the rack for this event. Thank you to all the volunteers who helped dress the many clients attending our Luncheon!

A wonderful group of volunteers from New York Cares joined us Thursday night to help with the 300 boxes donated by The Limited a few weeks ago. Imagine our surprise when 20 additional boxes came through the doors from our friends at MBooth & Associates – phew we kept busy! Tuesday’s team of volunteer has their work cut out for them when they take over helping with the generous donations! Good Luck! Thank you to our wonderful corporate volunteers and donors – whether donating time or clothing, each partner and volunteer makes a difference. We appreciate all that you do for Bottomless Closet!

Well that is all for this week. Be sure to check back next week for your weekly wears Straight Off the Rack!

MAY 7, 2010

Corporate Volunteerism
This week we would like to highlight our corporate partners and the many ways they continue to help Bottomless Closet. 

The Spring Semi Annual Sale was last Saturday, May 1 and leading up to the Sale there was a virtual whirlwind of organizing and re-organizing going on at Bottomless Closet.  Several corporate groups worked together with the mass of daytime volunteers to get the excess inventory sorted, sized, hung and displayed for the Sale. Volunteers from Estee Lauder came in each day to help out. Staff members from Societe Generale joined in the fun to get the boutique and inventory space set up for the sale, and on Friday a group from Viacom spent the day prepping our boutique in celebration of their Viacommunity Day. Thank you to all! We are thrilled to have you all as part of OUR community! 

Everything went – shoes, jewelry, handbags!! Winter Calvin Klein suits, Armani Jackets, Donna Karan sweaters sold for less than $5.00!  Thank you to the volunteers who helped the 120 shoppers! Our clients used the points they earned by attending workshops to build their professional wardrobes, and over 150 points were used. We raised over $2,300! The funds raised will support the programming at Bottomless Closet.

Shopping and Cashing out the at the Sale

Thanks again to Sheila Scarlett and her team at Willis for helping to increase computer literacy among our clients. Our friends from Willis held the next installment in the training series with 2 Excel workshops.  Our clients learned the ins and outs of creating and maintaining a spreadsheet.

We were thrilled to receive 100 suits from Jones Apparel Group. Some of the suits will dress the clients attending our Annual Spring Luncheon on Monday, May 17, 2010. Look to next week’s Straight Off the Rack for pictures. Thank you to our friends at Jones Apparel Group, Robert Hoffman, Sasha Porter and Ruth Schlossberg for your continued support!

Thursday was job preparation day for Bottomless Closet clients. Maggie Chandler from Access Staffing held her workshop on Business Etiquette. As part of the workshop, Maggie discussed the kinds of questions employers ask during an interview and helped prepare our clients for interviewing.

Our friends at Goldman Sachs held a Career Day for 17 clients from our referral organizations: Parks Department – POP, CUNY City College – Poised for Success, and F.E.G.S. The Goldman Sachs staff held one-on-one mock interviews and discussed the need for a well prepared resume with our clients. Thank you to all who took part in the Goldman Sachs Career Day!

Clients with Goldman Sachs staff

Contributions from the corporate community are a vital element to our continued success. We are grateful to all our corporate partners. If you would like to become a corporate partner of Bottomless Closet, please click here.

MAY 3, 2010

Amazing!

It seems that every week something exciting is happening at Bottomless Closet! The ladies of The Transition Network held their Second Annual Bottomless Closet awareness and networking event. The office was filled nearly to capacity and the voices of the Flaming Amys resonated throughout — and that was only Monday!!!

But before we go into the amazing week we have had, we would like to take a moment to say welcome to the newest member of the future generation of bottomless Closet volunteers! Our dear friend, volunteer and Board member, Sara, could not receive a better early mother’s day present than our youngest Bottomless Closet volunteer!

We would also like to say get well — and come back soon, to those friends and volunteers who have not been in due to illness (or broken bones). We appreciate you and can’t wait to have you back.

Now back to those resonating notes! On Tuesday and Wednesday, our friends from Willis held the next installment of the Microsoft office series with the last 2 sessions of Microsoft Outlook in which 15 of our clients took part. The Willis team and the work they are doing to bring computer literacy to all of our clients, is greatly appreciated.

Some of you will be surprised to learn that, in this so called information age, not everyone is wired into their computer or pda! We take being able to create and send emails for granted — yet this is a skill that must be learned and practiced.

That is where we come in. So that our clients are outfitted with all they need to succeed, we have developed an Online Job Search Training. It is our hope that workshops like the training provided by the Willis team, will allow the women we serve to better compete in the modern workforce.

Becky Rodskog, volunteer and workshop leader, at the New Online Job Search Training

Tuesday was one of those nights when we were double-booked — which seems to be happening more and more of late. We love this trend because it means we are growing, even if we are bursting at the seams!

So while one group of women was at Willis, another group was returning to Bottomless Closet for evening appointments, which are held twice a month. Women who have gotten jobs come in for evening appointments to build their work wardrobe and enhance the outfits they received during their pre-interview appointment.

We are so thankful for those involved in creating and implementing our new online job search initiative and we are thrilled to say that already one of the clients who successfully completed the Online Job Search Training pilot program got a job!! After the training, Annie B. used the template provided, emailed her resume and received a response that same day! Annie has already started working as an Administrative Associate at a construction company. She came on Tuesday for an evening appointment to receive clothing for work. Congratulations Annie!

Annie B., client, creating an electronic resume at the New Online Job Search Training

Now onto some even more resounding notes!! This month we served a record number of women! The previous record of most women served in one month was October 2009 when 209 women came through our doors. As of Thursday, April 29, we served 243 women – 70 this week alone! This year to date Bottomless Closet has outfitted and coached 741 women!!!

Four of the 243 April 2010 clients!

Congratulations to all of the women that walk through our doors every day, you have taken the first step in becoming self sufficient. As always, we could never have accomplished this without the help of our wonderful group of volunteers! So to all a resonating Brava! Thank you all for truly an amazing week!

APRIL 26, 2010

What a wonderful week we had at Bottomless Closet celebrating Volunteer Appreciation Week! Our daytime volunteers came in extra early for a small lunch in gratitude of the great work they do. Kendall Farrell, Executive Director, Jessica Land, Volunteer Coordinator, and Patrycja Warda, Program Director, spoke of the changes that have come to Bottomless Closet in the past year. Our client numbers increased by 50% in 2009 and 50% again since the beginning of this year, noted Kendall.

It is amazing to think that this year we will dress over 2,000 women! 52 clients came to Bottomless Closet last week for appointments, 64 the week before and 50 the week before that! We are able to accommodate so many women due to the amazing dedication of our volunteers!

Kendall pointed out that last year volunteers provided over 10,000 hours of their time. This number, Jessica noted, is even larger as many out-of-office hours are unreported. This includes the time volunteers spend picking up donations from their friends as well as soliciting new clothing from retailers and manufacturers. The wonderful group of women on the board of directors alone could easily double this number with all their extensive help. 

There are many ways that volunteers help at Bottomless Closet. Below are some examples of how our volunteers help to further our cause.

Volunteers hold workshops		Volunteers serve as personal stylists and employment coaches to our clients
Volunteers sort and organize inventory		Virginia Gibbs at Poised for Success Volunteers go out to our community of referral partners and provide interview preparation for their clients

Several workshops were held last week as well. On Monday, Derek Warburton held his “Derek Fabulous” Workshop. We are excited to say that with Derek’s help e.l.f. Cosmetics has developed the e.l.f. limited edition Beauty Boost Kit which, with a retail value of $620, will retail at only $20 and all the proceeds will come to Bottomless Closet! Bottomless Closet was also featured on various blogs as a result of this partnership and also on the website Pepsi We Inspire. We appreciate Derek and his team because they are true Bottomless Closet ambassadors who continue to further our cause. We also partnered with We-Care.com so that now when you download the We-Care Reminder and shop online, Bottomless Closet receives a donation from the participating merchants.

On Tuesday, Tami Peter held the Retirement 101 workshop. This is the first of a two-part saving for retirement mini-series. Tami detailed the necessity of establishing a 401K for our clients as well as determining how much each client needs to retire well. Jayne Tear held Wednesday’s workshop which centered on the differences between men and women in the workplace. It was a very heated discussion (in a positive way) that involved all 25 women present. Thank you to all of our workshop presenters! If you would like to hold a workshop please send Patrycja Warda at pwarda@bottomlessclosetnyc.org your request including your topic/area of expertise.

Derek Warburton with client, Sandra, at the “Derek Fabulous” Workshop

Phew what a week! We saw an astounding 52 clients which brought the April numbers to 173! This week promises to be another wonderful week. Several corporate volunteer groups will be in to help with inventory management and The Transition Network will hold a networking event in our offices. There will be two workshops held at Willis on Microsoft Outlook. If your company would like to hold an event at Bottomless Closet, set up a volunteer group or host a workshop for our clients please click here for more information.