SPRINGFIELD — For the first time since it was established in 2000, Dress for Success of Western Massachusetts served more than 1,000 people in a single fiscal year, helping women and gender nonbinary people to gain a career and their confidence.
Dress for Success of Western Massachusetts provides low-income women and gender nonbinary people with interview attire, including shoes and bags. If the person gets the job, they can come back for up to four additional sets of clothing for a wardrobe that lasts throughout the work week. Dress for Success also offers workforce readiness programming and monthly workshops to build skills, increase confidence and receive support from the community.
In fiscal year 2026, which ended in July, 545 people received free professional attire for interviews, education, training and employment. Another 465 received year-long personalized mentorship, attended holistic workforce readiness training, engaged in workshops and joined the Professional Women’s Group.
“We are the only organization providing this support for women and nonbinary people, and the need is growing,” said Executive Director, Jess Roncarati-Howe. “There has not been nearly as much advancement in the workplace for women and nonbinary people in terms of pay parity as you would think.”
According to the National Women’s Law Center, for every dollar a white, non-Hispanic man earns, women make $0.83. That shrinks to $0.66 for Black women and $0.58 for Hispanic, Latina and Native American women. For Asian, Pacific Islander and native Hawaiian women, the parity is closer, making $0.97 to every dollar their male colleague does.
While Dress for Success of Western Massachusetts serves people in all four of the region’s counties, Roncarati-Howe said the greatest need seems to be in Springfield. The city’s poverty rate is 25.8%, compared to the state average of 9.7%.
The organization hired more staff in July, bringing the in-house personnel to six, and three contract staff. However, Roncarati-Howe pointed out that only two of them are full-time. Dress for Success is seeking new grant and donor opportunities so they can add hours to create more full-time positions. It also relies heavily on volunteers to work in the boutique, staff workshops and act as mentors to the clients. Volunteers worked more than 8,000 hours in FY26.
The organization partners with others to host mass clothing drives, but it also relies on personal donations of what Roncarati-Howe described as “very high quality” clothing. She said, “We’re always looking for shoes, bags and accessories, and extended sizes,” which includes sizes 0 to 4 and 16 and above.
“We always want it to feel like a boutique shopping experience [with] things people can feel confident wearing and moving through the community. It’s about retaining or restoring their level of dignity,” Roncarati-Howe said. She explained that the clients are often from marginalized communities, including those who are living in poverty, in addiction recovery, recently incarcerated, domestic abuse survivors and immigrants or refugees. She said the barriers clients face, including discrimination, housing security, childcare and transportation, can be insurmountable without support.
By helping someone establish a career, Roncarati-Howe said, “You’re not just helping one woman. You’re helping their family, possibly for generations.”
Dress for Success of Western Massachusetts is at 45 Lyman St. More information about the organization and its services can be found at westernmass.dressforsuccess.org.
