40. Community Need According to the Ludwig Institute (LI) for Shared Economic Prosperity report, Dayton has the nation's third highest “functional-unemployment” rate, despite job growth in 2022. A recent WYSO article states, that LI “defines functionally employed as the jobless, plus those seeking but unable to find full-time employment that pays above the poverty line. Eugene Ludwig: Dayton unemployment or at least functional unemployment is around 31%”.

Clothes That Work is positioned to serve 3,000+ resource-challenged job-seeking clients and the emerging workforce to address this problem. Local businesses struggle to find candidates with the skills and professionalism to meet company standards, thus weakening the potential for profit and success. Additionally, local businesses and community partners report that many impoverished applicants lack appropriate interview and workplace attire to make a credible and professional first impression. With fewer people working, the local tax base is shrinking. For instance, Montgomery County is currently in a financial crisis. Clothes That Work is projecting a loss of $50,000 in Montgomery County contracts due to this crisis. We must proactively address these problems, and rebuilding the workforce is a key solution. Adults living in poverty and the next generation workforce can fill the gap. Clothes That Work can prepare them to do so expeditiously and successfully.

Dayton, Ohio's poverty rates are among the highest in the U.S. compared to other U.S. cities. According to the 2021 American Community Survey, 27.6% or 37,970 Dayton residents live in poverty. [1] Poverty, lack of professional image, and not having professional soft skills perpetuate the socioeconomic gaps between Dayton residents. Additionally, the Brookings Institute often reports how the disparities between race and wealth in the U.S. are staggering.

More than 50% of Clothes That Work's adult clients are ethnic minorities, 10% are returning citizens, and 100% of the adults seeking job services live in poverty and are referred by one of 40 Referral Partners. Approximately 80% of our clients participate in the Workforce Education Initiative and 20% utilize the Clothing & Coaching Program. Nearly all of our Clothing & Coaching Program clients are impoverished adult job seekers, but a smaller, yet increasing number includes youth entering the workforce. Twenty percent of the Workforce Education Initiative clients are resource-challenged adults and eighty percent are high school, middle school, or college/university students. Research has shown that the earlier soft skills training is introduced in the classroom, the more likely these skills will be retained and implemented in the workplace. Our goal is to help create a healthy pipeline of workers for the region.

By preparing individuals for employment, we are supporting the community’s future workforce and setting our clients up to succeed. We manage expectations so clients know what they are walking into when they start a new job. The goal is not only to get them a job but to keep them in those jobs. By fostering a sustainable workforce, we are helping the business community by preparing their employees as well as helping to support individuals as they move towards financial independence. As they become more stable through employment, they can work their way off of government programs.

Over the past 25 years, Clothes That Work has adapted to the region’s evolving workforce trends, serving over 39,000. We educate our clients on 21st-century soft skills critical for securing and maintaining employment. Clients are taught how to prepare a resume, interview, professionally present themselves, communicate on the job, problem-solve, and manage conflict. Clients also seek interview and workplace clothing along with professional development coaching, and now we can offer this service to people in their communities.

Through stakeholder conversations, client and staff surveys, and analysis of Clothes That Work’s key performance indicators, we identified the primary barrier to our services is the lack of transportation. Today, fewer buses travel to Clothes That Work's headquarters at the Montgomery County Job Center. In part, this is because employees still work remotely. A lack of financial resources prevents some of our clients from affording public transportation, buying gas, or owning a car. To provide vital professional development and workforce clothing services, Clothes That Work raised $500,000 to purchase a custom-built 38’ vehicle to operate the new Mobile Outreach Initiative. This vehicle houses an inventory of interview and workplace clothing, dressing rooms, and a meeting space. We received the vehicle this past spring and are now taking the Clothing and Coaching Program on the road, which is the only of its kind in our service territory. As a result, we are building new relationships and adding Referral Partners in Miami, Greene, and Clark Counties. We aim to serve 100 Mobile Outreach clients in 2024. We can double this number with a second Mobile Outreach Initiative vehicle.

To manage Clothes That Work’s organizational growth, additional staff were hired. Meanwhile, the clothing inventory increased exponentially due to new partnerships, social media strategies, and overall improved brand awareness. As a result, we have outgrown our facility, which is stalling additional growth that is needed to reach more clients facing employment barriers who will offset worker shortages.

Clothes That Work's key performance indicator is the number of clients served. Between 2018 and 2019, Clothes That Work more than doubled the number of clients served. With the pandemic, that trend decreased during 2020 but rebounded in 2021. This year, we are positioned to serve 3,000 clients, which is roughly 500 more people than we have ever served. The earned income potential is approximately $80,000,000 benefiting Montgomery and surrounding counties. This level of growth requires additional administrative space, retail space for the Boutique, warehouse space for clothing donations, garages, and a loading dock for the Mobile Outreach Vehicles, clothing donations, and customers.

A larger warehouse is desperately needed to handle the influx of clothing donations supporting our Clothing & Coaching Program, Mobile Outreach Initiative, and Retail Boutique. When we expand our square footage from 12,500 to 20,000, we can expand our Boutique inventory. The Retail Boutique is Clothes That Work’s social enterprise generating 20% of the operating revenue for the organization. Additionally, at Clothes That Works current Montgomery County Job Center location, we only have eight parking spaces, which limits the number of visitors and customers. Sometimes our clients, donors, and volunteers cannot find parking and leave. Yet, the demand for parking is there.

With more retail space, a larger parking lot, and a prime location, we can generate additional Boutique revenue and Referral Contract fees to offset additional costs incurred from scaling the organization. A $1.5M funding award would construct a larger custom-designed facility centrally located on bus lines in Dayton, Ohio. Moda4 has been selected as the project architect and Woodard Development as the construction and project manager. At this time, Clothes That Work is seeking land in Dayton for the facility.

Clothes That Work is building and increasing a healthy pipeline of job-ready individuals who will benefit the tax base and local economy. Help us transform the lives of individuals like this client who said, “I finally feel like I look on the outside how I feel on the inside” when he saw how he looked in his new work-appropriate outfit. Another Clothing and Coaching Program client who wore a suit received from the organization looked and presented so professionally, that the interviewing company said the entry-level job he applied for wouldn’t be appropriate for him and that they were going to offer him a higher-level position. Job offers and advancement require professional clothing, soft skills, and confidence. Clothes That Work is known in the community for its outstanding programs that transform the lives of individuals and their families from the endless challenges faced when living in poverty to self-sufficiency and financial independence.

A recent testimonial from Veronica George, Stivers High School teacher: "Laura Hart from Clothes That Work gave a superior presentation to my career exploration classes about applications, resumes, and interviews. When teaching resumes and interviewing, I referenced her presentation several times. The students produced the most professional resumes I have graded. Many of the resumes had the power verbs and adjectives that Laura taught them. During the mock interviews, students remembered what Laura told them and they used her examples. Overall, Clothes That Work truly helped my students to write better resumes and perform better interviews. Thank you, Laura, for your expertise and viewpoint from the community to help my students prepare for the real world."

[1.] https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2022/acs/acsbr-014.html