Paula Cosby decided to give the woman a little space. When the woman finally summoned the courage to peek at the mirror, that’s when the magic happened.
“She looked magnificent,” Cosby recalled. “She said, ‘I never thought I would ever look like this. I never thought I could be somebody. But now I see what people have been telling me, and I know I can do this.’”
Cosby, a Wright State University graduate, has watched this happen time and time again as executive director of Clothes That Work, a Dayton nonprofit that provides interview-appropriate clothing and confidence-building coaching to under-resourced jobseekers.
“How you dress affects and impacts how you feel, as well as how you are perceived,” Cosby said. “Our jobseekers consistently report that they feel more confident to be able to demonstrate their skills when they are dressed appropriately. Something transformational happens for them when they are dressed professionally.”
Clothes That Work is tucked into The Job Center, a sprawling one-stop employment and training complex located at 1111 S Edwin C Moses Blvd. in Dayton.. The nonprofit was founded in 1998 by a group of community-minded businesswomen with a vision to help single mothers get jobs by providing them with professional clothing. They called upon their friends to donate professional outfits from their closets.
The organization has gone from serving 250 women in its initial year to nearly 1,800 women and men, and young adults. Over the years that amounts to nearly 25,000 jobseekers, who have been hired in the automotive, manufacturing, hospital and other service industries.
The donated clothing is either brought directly to Clothes That Work or dropped off at several locations around the community. Last year, nearly a quarter million items of clothing were donated.
Inside the facility, racks of dresses and suits line the walls. Conservative blacks and grays dominate, but there is a sprinkling of beiges and powder blues. Newly arrived donations of shoes and purses fill blue plastic storage containers. Shopping carts overflow with stacks of shirts, demonstrating the outpouring of support from the community.
These generous donations enable Clothes That Work to provide free interview outfits as well as go-to-work outfits to qualified jobseekers, who are living at or below the poverty level and who may also be dependent upon public services.
In addition to its primary mission-based clothing program, Clothes That Work also operates an upscale resale boutique that is open to the public. The boutique helps the organization generate revenue for operations and programming.
“It helps newly employed and under-employed individuals to stretch their resources so that their initial paychecks aren’t allocated to clothing,” Cosby said. “Once they are stabilized and have been on the job for a period of time, they can come back and shop at our boutique to get quality professional clothing for a reduced price.”
Clothes That Work is also in the process of developing a series of workshops that will help jobseekers and newly employed workers with soft skills — understanding how to communicate like professionals, how to behave professionally in a business environment and how networking can expand their opportunities for success.
Cosby has dedicated her professional career to nonprofit service. After returning from the corporate arena, she began important work with the city of Dayton and community partners to support the revitalization of the historic Wright-Dunbar Business District, through Wright Dunbar, Inc.
During this time, Cosby began pursuing her master’s degree in public administration from Wright State.
“I cannot begin to tell you the difference that it has made in terms of my own awareness and professional growth,” she said. “There is a large level of respect that Wright State University has, especially their MPA program.”
Cosby says the program’s strength lies in its ability to work alongside community leaders and organizations to make positive public impacts. She said she decided to attend Wright State because of the university’s desire to strengthen the local community by providing practical, hands-on experiential learning opportunities for graduate students.
“The opportunity to earn a certification in nonprofit leadership while earning a graduate degree was the icing on the cake,” she said. “Not only was I able to receive a top-notch degree, I was also able to focus my academic emphasis on the nonprofit field.”
Cosby, who got her degree in 2012, said the program inspired and taught her how to impact public policy and make lasting changes in the community and people’s lives. She has been named Outstanding Nonprofit Professional by the Wright State Nonprofit Leadership Alliance chapter and has been honored as an Outstanding Alumni through the College of Liberal Arts.
Cosby’s interface with Clothes That Work was somewhat serendipitous. The “love affair” began when she attended a luncheon hosted by Clothes That Work.
“I really became charged and enamored by what I saw they did and how they impacted individuals’ lives in such a meaningful way,” she said. “Clothes That Work was helping to build community at its very core.”
A year later Cosby was hired as the chief development officer and in 2013 became executive director.
Clothes That Work is staffed by five employees and a large team of dedicated volunteers. Cosby herself makes time to serve job seekers.
“I really enjoy interacting with our jobseekers,” she said. “I think it’s important to stay grounded in why I do what I do.”
Volunteer Janet Rinehart says Cosby has the “utmost enthusiasm.”
“When you talk to her, you know she believes that this is going to make a difference in somebody’s life,” Rinehart said.
When she isn’t working, Cosby is dedicated to improving childhood literacy. She is also a trivia buff.
“I plan my dinner meal times around ‘Jeopardy,’ ” she jokingly says.
But Cosby’s true passion is Clothes That Work. And she says the magic spot inside the nonprofit is in front of a mirror, which fires her passion.
“I don’t understand what happens, but this mirror comes to life when it has an opportunity to reflect the image of a jobseeker,” she said. “You see it come alive in her face. You see the confidence begin to exude. It’s indescribable. And that’s what brings me joy in my work every single day.”
About the Author