'More accessible to all women': Dress for Success Regina celebrates grand opening at new location

Dress for Success has new location WATCH: A service in Regina which has been empowering women for over 15 years now has a new home.

It is the beginning of a new era for Regina’s Dress for Success program, a non profit organization which aims to help women and non-binary individuals gain economic independence in a variety of ways, including providing professional attire.

The grand opening of their new location at 1920 Hamilton St. marked an important milestone for the team.

The organization was previously located on the third floor of Regina’s Westminster United Church. Organizers explained that this was a great starting point and expressed gratitude for the church and its support.

Barbara Byers, the chair of Dress for Success, said the organization is excited to be in a more accessible location

“It was difficult, we had clients that we couldn’t serve because they couldn’t go up the stairs. We had volunteers that couldn’t volunteer because they couldn’t and so we moved into this new location with the eye that we wanted to be more accessible to all women,” she explained.

The organization helps out with much more than just clothing, according to CEO Catherine Curtis.

“We help with resume development, career coaching, interview preparation and then when they’re ready to apply for the job or they’ve got the job interview, they can come to a boutique like this and benefit from the opportunity to get some of this beautiful clothing so that they can go to their interview, feel like a million bucks,” she said.

With this new space, the Dress for Success team is looking forward to widening their reach in the community, emphasising how clothing can make quite the difference for many.

“Clothing is important because it makes a woman or a non binary individual just feel that confidence. It encourages them to feel uniquely like themselves but it also makes them feel special. We all know what that feels like when we’re dressing something we feel great in. Our shoulders go back, our chin lifts a little bit and we just feel like we can conquer the world,” Curtis said.

As this new location aims for accessibility, appointments are available by calling ahead and any donations can be made every Monday evening from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.