SPRINGFIELD — On Thursday, Oct. 22, state Sen. Eric Lesser and Dress for Success will host a virtual forum on the digital divide, which will cover the impacts on remote learning, telehealth, employment, and more. The event will include stakeholders from across the region and will focus on how the pandemic has exposed the digital divide in the Commonwealth — in Western Mass. in particular.
Joining Lesser will be Margaret Tantillo, executive director of Dress for Success; Cristina Huebner Torres, vice president, Research and Population Health Programs for Caring Health Center; Henry Thomas, president and CEO of the Urban League of Springfield; Dan Warwick, superintendent of Springfield Public Schools; Jeff Cady, general manager of Crossroads Fiber; Kevin Lynn, executive director of MassHire Springfield Career Center; and Shirley Bloomfield, CEO of the Rural Broadband Assoc.
Attendees can register and participate by clicking here, and can also view the event at twitter.com/ericlesser or facebook.com/ericlesserma.
Dress for Success Western Massachusetts will host another of its popular clothing tag sales at the Eastfield Mall to raise funds and awareness of its mission, but this time with a focus on public safety.
Individuals or small groups will be welcomed into the tag sale, to be held Oct. 19 through Oct. 24, by appointment only and for an hour at a time. Shoppers interested in booking a one-hour appointment to browse and shop should contact Boutique Manager Diane Jacobs at [email protected] or 413-732-8179. Four people will be scheduled each hour, so small groups are welcome. Masks will be required in order to shop at the tag sale.
As always, the new and gently used merchandise includes items from name-brand retailers and fashion houses such as Anne Klein, Evan Picone, Ellen Tracy and many more. Customers can fill a shopping bag for only $25.
The event will be held in the Eastfield Mall at 1655 Boston Road, Springfield, where Dress for Success maintains a boutique. The tag sale event itself will be held next door to Hannoush Jewelers. Hundreds of women have refreshed their wardrobes at past tag sales, while at the same time supporting Dress for Success’ mission to empower women to achieve economic independence. Be sure to tell your friends and mark your calendar—this is one event you don’t want to miss.
All proceeds will benefit Dress for Success Western Massachusetts. Volunteers are needed for the event. If you are interested, please contact [email protected].
For more information about Dress for Success Western Mass., contact Executive Director Margaret Tantillo at (413) 732-8179.
Maria Pelletier found confidence — and a job — with the help of Dress for Success.
Applying for jobs can be a daunting task, especially if one does not have the right tools or preparation to nail the interview. Dress for Success, an international not-for-profit organization, is working toward helping low- to middle-income women achieve economic independence by boosting confidence and providing valuable skills, a network of support, and the right suit to get the job done — literally.
When Maria Pelletier lost her job in August 2017 — the first time she had ever been fired in her life — she felt like she hit rock bottom.
“It was the last thing I was expecting,” she said. “It really set me back and made me question who I am and what I’m able to do.”
Pelletier began collecting unemployment, and although she was applying for jobs, she wasn’t getting hired, and she couldn’t figure out why.
“I was just doubting myself,” she said. “I kept thinking, ‘why are they not hiring me? What is going on?’”
“We’re finding out where they want to work, how we can get them in the door, and what’s their path to move up the ladder and have career success, because ultimately, our goal is to help women gain economic independence.”
Fortunately, she stumbled upon a program called Dress for Success Western Massachusetts, which she says gave her the confidence she needed to get back on track. When asked about her journey through the program, Pelletier had three short words: “where to begin?”
The most important thing Dress for Success did for her was get her confidence back up. Pelletier applied and went through the Foot in the Door program, a course that helps women enter the workforce. She was able to get a job part-time at the Post Office while going to classes for the program.
Then, in April 2018, she got a full-time job as lead Client Service specialist at Baystate Medical Center, and has been working there ever since. In that role, she answers phone calls coming into the hospital, and hopes to continue to learn more about her department and grow into new responsibilities.
“The interview skills and the classes we were taught reinforced on my skills I already had,” she said. “It was just bringing it back out to the forefront and saying, ‘yes, you can do this.’”
Sense of Sisterhood
That, said Executive Director Margaret Tantillo, is exactly what Dress for Success is about — giving women the confidence they need to get into the workforce, whether it is their first time or they need a little help to get back out there.
While the name entails part of the organization’s mission, to supply women with clothing for a job interview — or a few days of outfits once a job is secured — from the Dress for Success boutique at the Eastfield Mall, this is only part of the mission. “The suit is the vehicle, or just one aspect of what we’re able to do,” Tantillo said.
She told BusinessWest there are two workforce-development programs, and a third on the way, designed to help women become financially independent and confident in themselves.
Foot in the Door, launched in 2016 to help underemployed and unemployed women enter the workforce, is a collaboration between Springfield Technical Community College and Holyoke Community College instructors, who provide training on the interpersonal skills that are necessary for any workplace.
Margaret Tantillo says Dress for Success offers women a community of support — a sisterhood of sorts.
Within three months of graduating from this program, 70% of women, on average, are either in school and/or working, Tantillo explained. Program directors also make sure to prioritize putting women in jobs that are the right fit for them.
“We really work with our participants to find out what their interest is and what their skillset is,” said Tantillo. “We’re finding out where they want to work, how we can get them in the door, and what’s their path to move up the ladder and have career success, because ultimately, our goal is to help women gain economic independence.”
Having a good relationship with employers and referring agencies in the region is a big part of this, and Tantillo said practice interviews are available for women who finish the program successfully so they can receive feedback before going into the real interview. Some even get jobs right from the practice round.
On a more personal level, Dress for Success offers the Margaret Fitzgerald one-on-one mentorship program for women who are looking for jobs or recently entered the workforce. Each participant is paired with a professional woman in the community to work with on an individual basis.
“They are able to form a relationship so they can guide and support women in terms of whatever their unique, individual need is,” said Tantillo, adding that the program recently received an anonymous donation of $25,000. “The women who have come through that have had some really good results.”
She added that having a role model is a big part of women finding success in the programs, as many of them have not been fortunate enough to have role models in their lives.
The name of the program comes from a female mentor herself. Margaret Fitzgerald was a secretary and the only woman in the Physics department at Mount Holyoke College in the 1970s. She was called “mom” by many of the women enrolled in that program and acted as a mentor, advocate, and friend to the students. The female leaders in this program hope to do the same thing for their participants.
The newest program, The Professional Women’s Group, is set to launch in January 2020 with help from Eversource. It will focus on promoting employment retention and career advancement by providing valuable information, tools, and resources while creating a safe environment for participants to network with other professionals.
“They have a real sense of responsibility because what they do doesn’t just impact them, it impacts the next person we refer to that employer. It’s interesting to see how people respond when they feel like they’re part of something bigger.”
This group of women will be recruited from other programs and aims to help them especially in the first six months of a job, which are critical in terms of how people perform.
“The unemployment rate is lower, so there are more people in jobs that need the instruction and guidance about how to retain a job,” Tantillo said.
This new program, she explained, is intended to supplement the ones already in place at Dress for Success, and is framed around five pillars: workplace etiquette, work/life balance, financial health, health and wellness, and leadership and civic responsibility.
“We provide them with a community of support,” she noted. “We’ve had women talk about how they feel like this is a sisterhood and that they’ve never felt so supported before in their lives.”
Opening New Doors
Confidence. Community. Sisterhood.
These key words mentioned above several times are what Dress for Success instills in women utilizing its programs. And these women want to succeed not only for themselves, but for each other.
“The flip side is, now, when they’re in a job, they have a real sense of responsibility because what they do doesn’t just impact them, it impacts the next person we refer to that employer,” Tantillo said. “It’s interesting to see how people respond when they feel like they’re part of something bigger.”
For Pelletier, she gained not only a community of support, but a second chance.
“I was at rock bottom, and I said, ‘OK, let me try this. Let me see where it goes from there,’” she said. “They can either kick me to the curb or they can say, ‘hey, come on in.’ And luckily, they said, ‘come on in.’”
