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AOL Black
Voices: The Good
News for
2005-05-24
15:48:11
For the first
time in years,
Denia Addison
was getting off
the welfare roll
to join the
workforce. But
first she needed
a few outfits to
interview in, so
she went to
Jackets for Jobs
Inc., a Detroit
nonprofit
agency.
She was a little
self-conscious
at first, having
been to agencies
like the
Salvation Army
before. But as
soon as she
arrived, she
knew it was
going to be
different.
"I got there and
a woman showed
me the main
room," recalled
Addison, 39, a
mother of three.
"She talked to
me and told me
they didn't take
this lightly,
that the people
they assisted
were really
serious."
It was then that
she realized
that Jacket for
Jobs was not
just a place to
get clothes.
This was a place
where she felt
like she
mattered, where
people showed
they were
interested in
her and what she
was trying to
do. That is
exactly what the
founder Alison
Vaughn had hoped
when she founded
Jackets for
Jobs. She wanted
to create a
pleasant
experience for
women who could
use a little
sisterly
encouragement --
and clothes to
wear on
interviews or to
new jobs.
Vaughn, a flight
attendant and
seasoned
volunteer,
started the
program in
memory of her
sister.
"God is my CEO.
My sister is my
guardian angel,"
said Vaughn, who
in almost five
years has
provided clothes
to more than
2,000 Detroit
women.
She and her
sister Cheryl,
who were raised
by their
mothers, didn't
see each other
for 20 years
after their
father died.
When they
reunited, Vaughn
said, her sister
was dying of
cancer. "Six
months later she
passed away,"
she said.
It wasn't until
she was going
through Cheryl's
papers to help
with funeral
arrangements
that she
discovered that
her sister was
on welfare.
"When I realized
this, I wanted
to do something
for welfare
mothers," she
said. So she
came up with the
idea for Jackets
for Jobs. "I
talked with a
minister and
told him what I
was doing and he
had some space
in a church,"
she said. "We
started there."
For two years,
the Vaughn ran
the agency out
of the church.
Word spread,
people donated
clothes and
money, and women
who needed the
clothes showed
up. Her first
clients were a
group of 15
women from an
agency across
the street from
the church. She
remembers that
they all walked
over together
and all left
with new
clothes.
"It was a good
feeling," Vaughn
remembered. "I
was thinking:
Wow, I'm really
helping someone.
These ladies
have no clothing
for a job
interview. They
have no
resources and
I'm able to
provide
resources to
help them get on
their feet."
Eventually
Vaughn formed a
nonprofit
organization so
her program
could get grants
and special
funding. She
moved Jackets
for Jobs into a
larger space in
The Samaritan
Center, a
one-stop social
services
location in a
needy Detroit
neighborhood,
she said.
This year the
program expanded
to serve men.
Derrick Coleman
of the Detroit
Pistons donated
$50,000 in
clothes to
jumpstart the
effort. Then in
April NBC's
'Today' chose
Jackets for Jobs
for its 'Lend a
Hand' segment.
The show's
weatherman Al
Roker personally
delivered
$50,000 in
clothes and
other items
donated by Sears
along with a
Toyota minivan.
"It was nothing
but the Lord,"
offered Vaughn.
"I didn't go to
them; they came
to me."
In the room
where the women
pick out new
clothes to wear
on job
interviews,
Vaughn has a
plaque hanging
in memory of the
sister she
barely knew. On
her desk, she
keeps her
sister's photo
and obituary.
Now Vaughn, once
a lone
volunteer, has a
staff of four
part-time
employees, a
league of
volunteers and,
of course, her
sister. "My
guardian angel
sits on my
shoulder," she
said.
2005-05-24
15:48:11 |
