The last few years have been challenging for individuals and organizations alike. Like many others, one of our partner nonprofit agencies, Women Helping Women (WHW) faced hardship in the wake of the pandemic. After decades of serving the Orange County Community, WHW has finalized their dissolution. In February, Working Wardrobes had the privilege of hosting Board members from WHW, as they presented our organization with the donation of their remaining funds.
Working Wardrobes and WHW shared a mission of empowerment through employment. We had the honor of working closely with the WHW team over many years, collaboratively providing jobseekers in our community with workforce readiness services.
Orange County residents are all too familiar with the need for such services. The low-income threshold for a family of four living in Orange County is approaching $90,000 annually – one of the highest in the nation. The intersection of high cost of living with Orange County’s socioeconomically diverse population renders services like Working Wardrobes’ and WHW’s vital to the health of our workforce and community at large.
Working Wardrobes is proud to participate in a vast ecosystem of supportive services for individuals in our community who face barriers to financial security, among other elements of an empowered life. WHW in particular has been an incredible partner in our charge to upskill and resource those whose journeys to employment are fraught with personal and systemic obstacles.
On February 24th of 2023, Working Wardrobes CEO Bonni Pomush welcomed WHW Board members to our Career Success Center, where they shared memories and mused on the future of workforce readiness services in Orange County.
For WHW Board Chair Pauleen Francis, the occasion was bittersweet. She shared that the decision to donate WHW’s remaining funds to Working Wardrobes was an easy one. She felt comforted knowing that their “donation will ensure a safe space is maintained for Orange County jobseekers as they reach out for and receive life changing help.”
Bonni expressed her grateful thanks to the former WHW team, saying “it is [Working Wardrobes’] honor to carry forward this impact, through empowerment, employment, and dignity.”
WHW’s generous donation will provide job seekers with wrap around, holistic workforce readiness services through Working Wardrobes’ our Rebuilding Careers program. Thank you, WHW, for the opportunity to continue this legacy of service.