Helping women 'Dress for Success' while recovering from Harvey

HOUSTON – At Dress for Success they are doing everything they can to get women back up on their feet and get a job into their hands.

Speaking of feet and hands, there’s something that you can do to help them succeed.

“I was there at one point and I know what it’s like to just be hanging on and to start over and start new,” Karma Lacio said.

Lacio is a single mom of five children and had just gone through a divorce the first time she came to Dress for Success.

“I came in completely devastated and they showed me kindness. They helped me with interview questions, resumes. They suited me for my first suit so I really felt I could go out there and then I did,” Lacio said.

However Hurricane Harvey forced her and many women in the program back to square one.

“Up to about 3 feet to 4 feet, and pretty much lost everything. Two cars, clothes, shoes, left in a hurry with maybe two outfits on my back,” she said.

“Last Saturday we served just over 300 women and their children,” said Alesha Walker, outreach manager at Dress for Success.

Fortunately Dress for Success was there to help them once again and will keep helping others.

“We’ve been so fortunate to receive enough professional attire to last us through the year for the women that we plan to serve. So right now the greatest need are the handbags and the shoes,” Walker said. “Flats, heels or wedges really work, really work well for us … small sizes are hard to find and the larger sizes, so sizes from four to six and nine to 12”

As for colors for both shoes and handbags Alesha suggests, “Black and brown are the best colors to have because we can match those again with a lot of the attire that we receive.”

Right now they don’t have any donated handbags in their warehouse. Even the ones on display were purchased by Dress for Success just so they could fully outfit their ladies.

If you have some to donate drop them off at 3310 Eastside Street in the Upper Kirby neighborhood.

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