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Mission

To promote economic self–sufficiency by providing interview skills, business clothing, and ongoing career development and support programs to economically disadvantaged New York City women. By enhancing their self-confidence and self-sufficiency, we enable them to enter and succeed in the workforce and transform the vision for their lives.

Programs

•Interview-appropriate clothing along with personalized resume review and interview coaching.

•Workplace Skills workshops highlight those important skills needed to succeed on the job, including time management, business etiquette, business writing, and effective communication.

•Career Development workshops cover the key stages of building a career, from examining the tools for an effective job search to developing a strategy for implementing a career plan.

•Financial Management workshops help clients plan for financial independence with topics ranging from creating a budget to basic money management to retirement planning.

•Personal Development workshops address the ‘whole’ person with strategies and helpful suggestions on creating balance, physically and emotionally, at work and at home.

Accomplishments

Bottomless Closet:

*Supports more than 1,000 women a year and has served over NYC 7,000 women since 1999.

*Partners with nearly 200 referral organizations that provide work-readiness and skills building training to clients.

*Depends on volunteers who give over 300 hours of service each month.

*Conducts an average of 6 workshops and programs per month with an average of 15 clients per session.

*Offers monthly financial management workshops in topics including setting financial goals, budgeting, credit & debt management, retirement & investing, and buying a home. At least five participants have been able to buy a home as a result of information they’ve received through this program. Additionally, participants receive free access to their FICO credit scores once a year along with their credit reports; we follow up yearly to assess their progress. Our most popular track, an average of 19 clients attend each session.

Goals

Over the past eight years, Bottomless Closet has experienced steady, carefully planned growth in its administration, financing and programs. Originally a fully volunteer-run operation, Bottomless Closet hired its first paid Executive Director in 2001; since then, staff has increased to three full-time employees. The 21-member board of directors is actively involved in the governance of the organization, fundraising, as well as personally working with clients. We are remarkably cost effective in our operation as all of our programming is done by volunteers and virtually all of our clothing is donated by individuals or corporate sponsors. Future growth efforts will primarily focus on increasing the number of women we serve through our workshops and programming.

Program Evaluation Methods

A Program and Evaluation Committee comprised of board members reviews programs and services annually. This includes tracking the number of clients served, overall cost and satisfaction, in order to determine ongoing viability. The Committee also compares programs to other similar ones where possible and desirable; making recommendations to the Board for initiation of new programs or elimination of ones that are no longer appropriate or of value.

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