Petaluma store offers free clothes, confidence boost for homeless

In a trendy riverfront neighborhood of downtown Petaluma, there is a new boutique stocked with Ann Taylor and Evan Picone pantsuits, Banana Republic sport coats and men’s dress shirts from Van Heusen and Tommy Hilfiger.

A row of colorful patent leather pumps lines one wall. Belts, necklaces and earrings are tastefully arranged on an antique dresser. Scarves hang on the walls next to impressionist paintings.

The only thing missing from this swanky store? Price tags.

“There are no price tags because nothing costs anything,” said Jenna Garcia, program manager for the Committee on the Shelterless, a Petaluma nonprofit that provides services to homeless people.

All of the clothes at the Work: Ready Apparel boutique on First Street have been donated to COTS. The clientele includes people trying to find a job and pull themselves out of hard times, Garcia said. Many are living in the COTS shelter or in temporary housing.

After going through a four-week course designed to teach ré sumé writing, interviewing and job-hunting skills, many of the people in the program need clothes to help them look professional. Instead of a large bin of wrinkly used clothes for them to rifle through, the boutique allows the job-seekers to have a fun shopping experience and get the clothes they want, Garcia said.

“This personal shopping experience, what it does for their self-esteem is incredible,” she said. “They come out of the fitting room with a big smile on their face.”

The store doesn’t cost COTS a thing. Besides the donated clothing, all of the labor to beautify the shop and clean the clothes is done by volunteers. Even the prime retail space was donated by Basin Street Properties, the local real estate and development firm.

The project “has been a labor of love,” said Mike Johnson, the CEO of COTS.

“Dedicated volunteers have given merchandising expertise, hand-pressed clothing, painted walls, mended small holes in clothing and replaced countless buttons.”

Other nonprofits have onsite closets with professional clothes or partner with existing thrift stores, but the Work: Ready Apparel shop is unique because of its dedicated retail location, Garcia said.

The boutique, which launched in January, is only open once a month for graduates of the Work: Ready program, Garcia said, but she hopes to open it once a week in the future. Clients can walk out with two free outfits. Eventually, with more inventory, Garcia hopes the store will be able to provide clients with a whole week’s wardrobe.

COTS accepts new or gently worn clothing and accessory donations at its Mary Isaak Center on Hopper Street in Petaluma. The venture also needs clothing racks, large plastic bins and gift cards to affordable clothing stores. Volunteer personal ?shoppers and clothing maintenance volunteers are also needed.

At the store’s grand opening last month, Kathleen Gevorkian, 58, originally from Sebastopol, got two outfits, a pair of fashionable high heels and a large dose of confidence to get back into the work force. Gevorkian, who has been homeless on and off for nearly four years, said that, at other shelters, she has pulled used clothes out of bags off the floor.

“The clothing they have there (at the COTs store) is what I would call upper-end,” she said. “It’s very nice and they treat us with high standards and high class. It was like a day shopping with some girlfriends.”

Armed with some new outfits, she said she would like to go back to school or resume her career in the mental health profession.

“The clothes really change how you feel about yourself,” she said.

“Shopping with other supportive women was really inspiring and confidence-building. When we get treated with dignity, we’re able to come back with the same thing.”

You can reach Staff Writer Matt Brown at 521-5206 or matt.brown@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MattBrownPD.