A collaboration among multiple organizations has breathed new life into a longstanding organization that will make its new home in Cape Coral this February.
“Collaboration is key. You have to find like-minded organizations that you can benefit from and benefit from you. The real winner are the women that we serve,” Dress for Success Executive Director Jennifer Nelson-Lastra said. “We figured out a path forward. We persevered and kept pushing.”
Dress for Success Board Chair Colleen Jorgensen said they are very excited to be reopening their boutique with its location to be in Cape Coral.
“Over the last couple of months, we dove deep into our mission and decided what are the programs that exemplified that mission and we facilitated that moving forward,” she said. “We are extremely excited for what 2026 is going to bring us.”
That deep dive shined a light on the boutique and its ability to give women confidence by providing clothes that evoke empowerment and experience in the workforce.
Nelson-Lastra, who also is a Cape Coral City Council member, is the third executive director since Dress for Success began in 2010. She came onboard in January 2024 when the organization was struggling financially.
“I had to think quickly and move us out of our original location by Bell Tower. I was able to utilize my wonderful relationship with the CEO, John Nadeau from Goodwill Industries, who allowed us to co-locate until I figured out a new boutique,” she said.
Nadeau said they like to work with other nonprofit organizations.
“We don’t have any competition in Southwest Florida. We have partners,” he said.
Nadeua said when Nelson-Lastra asked for help it was a no brainer as he had known her for a long time. Goodwill Industries helped with the transition until they found a new place where they could settle down.
“We found enough (room) to make it work for both parties,” Nadeau said.
Dress for Success dresses women who are coming back into the workforce, new to the workforce, or have some type of barrier to employment — never worked, are rejoining the workforce after caring for their children, or coming out of a recovery or an abuse situation and now need to work to support their children.
Dress for Success also partners with Goodwill Industries Work Ability Course, which is a three-day course that provides women with interview and communication skills, helps them to build a resume and offers participation in mock interviews. Nelson-Lastra said Dress for Success also teaches the women how to dress for work.
“We give them three outfits to interview. When they land the job, they can come back and get six more outfits to utilize in their new roles,” she said.
Nelson-Lastra said they dress the women at Goodwill Stores.
“Any item we receive in terms of donations that we can’t use — baby clothes, houseware, men’s clothing — we exchange for vouchers,” she said, adding if they don’t have a size, or enough of what a client needs for a job, the women use the vouchers at Goodwill. “A lot of first-time employed women who get jobs have to wear polos and khakis, black plants and white shirts. If we don’t have enough in our shop, they go and use their vouchers.”
“We have a system worked out with Dress for Success. They will collect the items, give them to us to process and we give them vouchers, so their clients can go into our stores to get them dressed. It’s a natural partnership between the two organizations,” Nadeau said.
Nadeau said they have fashion forward stores that offer a really nice place to shop and get what is needed.
“We are all trying to serve people in our community. There are a lot of crossovers. We all try to help each other and do what we all do best. Dress for Success has a very specific mission they are trying to accomplish. There are a lot of things we can do to support that mission. Those are things we love to do,” he said.
Nelson-Lastra said Goodwill Industries saved Dress for Success.
“They helped save it. They allowed us to go into their space, use their warehouse and accept donations, utilize transportation and logistics to move these goods around the Southwest Florida area,” she said.
Nadeau said Goodwill Industries will be there in the future if Dress for Success needs assistance.
“I wish them well. They are moving on to a new space. I believe in what they are doing. I will always be there to help them if they need a hand up later down the road,” Nadeau said.
Nelson-Lastra said there was no way Dress for Success would have survived without him.
“Because of my strong relationship with Goodwill – I bled Goodwill blue for almost 25 years – I reached out to him and said I need you. He helped. He has been probably the biggest mentor I have had moving to Southwest Florida. He is amazing,” she said.
Guiding Grace
The collaboration did not stop there.
Nelson-Lastra was also approached by Meghan DeLuca, executive director for Guiding Grace SWFL, who offered a new space for Dress for Success.
“She approached me about utilizing some of their space for Dress for Success to reopen the boutique,” she said. “When Meg came to me, I jumped for joy and almost cried — it was what I have prayed for. To partner with another strong female leader, especially in Cape Coral, is another win. Women who come through her doors can benefit from our services as well. We will be able to dress her young women, and we will be able to send them through our job training programs through Goodwill and they can come back and volunteer. It’s a continuum of care.”
DeLuca said they became Guiding Grace Family Support Network this year after they were acquired by an organization outside of Nebraska.
“It stemmed from a need in our community. We were a primary organization that served in Cape Coral for 30 years,” she said of the maternity home that started serving teen moms before branching into helping single moms and children.
The organization began as Thrive Southwest Florida.
DeLuca said they have pivoted from a residential setting to a nonresidential program because they can reach more who are in need of aid. There are four apartment buildings at the back of their property for single mothers and their children, who will continue to be utilized by those living there.
“The calls and needs have changed. The women’s situations have changed. Thirty years ago, girls were hidden away in maternity homes because families were embarrassed by teen pregnancy,” said DeLuca, adding that often times those in need came from tragic, difficult situations.
“In a residential setting, that is not ideal in having all of these situations running up against each other every day.”
With the mental health component being such a critical and unmet need in the community, it made the situation more difficult because the level of help needed could not be met.
“I sought wisdom from a colleague. She founded a program that I needed the blueprint for — serving children and women, single fathers and children, caregivers raising from very difficult situations and trying to overcome poverty and dismantle the barriers between families,” DeLuca said. “It would be better if our organization dissolved and we were acquired by them in order to do the work that I knew we were now called to do.”
After things started happening with Guiding Grace, DeLuca reached out to Nelson-Lastra and they discussed the need for the community, the truth and what she had been battling with.
When Nelson-Lastra took over the helm of Dress for Success and began looking at the financials over a five-year period she realized the financial struggle. She began to think of how the organization could have a sustainable revenue source, so it did not have to rely so much on fundraising, events, and private donations.
Goodwill Industries was able to sell their higher-quality items online, with the monthly proceeds split between the two organizations.
“I wanted to do some type of thrift boutique,” Nelson-Lastra said. “Let’s say we have women who want to come and get something to wear professionally but they don’t want to pay retail price, they can come to our boutique.”
The third piece she wanted to apply to sustain the organization is having clients volunteer in the store, so they can further develop workforce and career development through learning the point-of-sale system, how to price items and assist Dress for Success in running the boutique.
“It’s a way forward, a true pathway,” DeLuca said.
Jorgensen said Dress for Success does not just stop there, they also offer a professional women’s group where they can seek higher level skills and leadership.
“We have a lot of community engagement at that level where you can find a mentor,” she said, adding that it also introduces women to different groups that might align with what they are currently doing. “It’s a leveling up piece. How can we help you — social media skills, doing videos, finding classes to take – engaging with the local community to help them push and level up.”
DeLuca said the need now includes employability, making Dress for Success a great partner.
“What if we put this together. When they come for service, that part of what we can provide for them is true workability training. They come in and get their resume reviewed, learn to show up and answer questions and how to be present in an interview,” DeLuca said. “This is what her program does. If we put their boutique in there it adds a whole other arm for education. It adds a whole other level of training that they can then grow into and grow from.”
She said this collaboration is going to be fantastic for the city of Cape Coral, Dress for Success, Guiding Grace and clients.
“If you stay stuck as an organization then you are no longer mission driven because the mission, while the essence of the mission does not change, the work to accomplish it sometimes needs to. You need to have a broad vision. Humans are not all the same. Our needs are different. When you think about the things that we go through and the experiences – we need to be prepared to meet them where they are,” DeLuca said.
She said between Nebraska and Florida they are serving more than 700 families.
“We were stuck as a residential program with a capacity of 16 women with 32 children,” DeLuca said, which in Lee County with almost a million people was not working.
Now with Guiding Grace “We are not limited by capacity. We are only limited by their decision to participate,” she said.
What’s next
The VIP Grand Opening for the boutique is set for Feb. 12, at 907 SE 5th Ave., also their first giving day.
“These giving days are for people with a need. They come right to the building and we — through churches, corporate partners and individual givers — are getting products and things for us that we need – detergent, diapers, wipes, mom and dad care items,” DeLuca said. “We don’t want them to leave empty handed.”
The idea is if they come for the items they need, the organizations will have the ability to engage with them to further provide tools to succeed.
Jorgensen said this step forward for Dress for Success took a revamp of the board of directors, moving locations and figuring our and defining their mission, so they can come back extremely strong this year and pursuing 2026 as a growing year.
How to get involved
For more information on Dress for Success or to make a donation visit swflorida.dressforsuccess.org
For more information on Goodwill or to make a donation visit goodwillswfl.org
For more information or to make a donation to Guiding Grace Family Support Network visit guidinggracenetwork.org