BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 There\u2019s a new men\u2019s section at Dress for Success Bakersfield, part of a major expansion for an organization long known for serving women. Boutique owners say, this isn\u2019t just a remodel, but a celebration to new beginnings.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a journey for me because I never thought I would let alone be in this place but be on this journey at all,\u201d said client Audra Dawson.<\/p>\n
After being released from prison, Audra Dawson was searching for direction. She took several courses to rebuild her life, but when she needed clothing for events and job interviews, she turned to Dress for Success Bakersfield.<\/p>\n
\u201cI walked out of here with three outfits and feeling like I could do anything. Being dressed professionally you don\u2019t just feel beautiful but you look beautiful, it builds your confidence,\u201d said Dawson.<\/p>\n
She tells me through their compassion, she\u2019s been able to transform herself, now attending Bakersfield College.<\/p>\n
\u201cDouble major in sociology and psychology, my GPA is 3.75. This is not what I thought was for me, I didn\u2019t think I was good enough for this,\u201d said Dawson.<\/p>\n
Dawson\u2019s story is similar to many others who have been helped by the nonprofit, which has dressed 2,917 women since 2012. But boutique leaders noticed a need to include men as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cWomen are wonderful we love women and we love men too and we want them to have that same empowered opportunity to go out into the workforce and feel confident,\u201d said Vice President of the Board for Dress For Success Kari Disque.<\/p>\n
When men\u2019s services launched this summer, the boutique started with just one rack of clothing.<\/p>\n
Now, the expansion features a full selection of shirts, pants, shoes and suits.<\/p>\n
On top of this, Thursday night\u2019s grand reopening unveiled new programs for future clients.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will have resume building, we are also going to launch a seminars that are going to happen monthly that are going to help with those resume building skills, it\u2019s going to do mock interviews and we will also have the workforce development and even financial literacy,\u201d said President of the Board for Dress For Success Diandra Ko.<\/p>\n
As the ribbon to new beginnings was cut, Dawson says she\u2019s hopeful others will take the same step she did.<\/p>\n
\u201cGive dress for success a try because for me who thought I would never be able to walk these streets again, to walk these streets again and to walk into this place and feel like I belong to a society today, that is something that is just priceless,\u201d said Dawson.<\/p>\n
Whether you\u2019re looking for a new outfit or you need assistance in preparing for the job interview\u2014 dress to success is ready to lend a helping hand, call (661) 748-1809.<\/p>\n
Stay in Touch with Us Anytime, Anywhere:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 There\u2019s a new men\u2019s section at Dress for Success Bakersfield, part of a major…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,155,153,152,179,33614,33615,33616,1810,162,33617,23],"class_list":["post-53253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-downtown","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news","tag-community","tag-dress-for-success-bakersfield","tag-dress-for-success-mens-section","tag-feel-good-news","tag-good-news","tag-kern-county-news","tag-kerns-kindness","tag-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}