A generous contribution from Greater Charitable Foundation has ensured that Dress for Success Newcastle-Hunter has reached its crowdfunding campaign target of $75,000.
The $20,565 donation from Greater Charitable Foundation will ensure that the doors to Dress for Success showroom in Broadmeadow will remain open for another year.
After launching in Sydney in 2010, Dress for Success recognised the opportunity to expand its services to the Newcastle-Hunter region in 2019 and opened a pop-up showroom.
Now, with a permanent showroom space in Broadmeadow, the branch supports more than 200 women a year through their signature interview Styling and presentation skills offering, Career Support workshops and One-on-one Job Preparation services.
Leisa Sadler, CEO of Dress for Success Sydney, expressed her sincere gratitude for the support provided by Greater Charitable Foundation.
“This generous funding from Greater Charitable Foundation will directly support 58 women seeking employment within the Newcastle-Hunter region,” Leisa said.
“It has been evident throughout this campaign that the community, businesses, and foundations across the Hunter region believe in Dress for Success’ mission to empower vulnerable women into financial stability.”
“It is our hope that this support will continue in the years ahead, as women are seeking our help in greater numbers. As a grassroots charity with a high impact, we cannot do this without everyone in our community taking an active part - we are truly ‘Better Together’”.
Greater Charitable Foundation CEO, Anne Long, said she had long admired the work of Dress for Success and was delighted to provide the financial support that will ensure they can continue operating and supporting women from across the Hunter.
“Dress for Success plays such an important role in empowering women from all walks of life to achieve financial independence, which aligns perfectly with our strategic focus of improving life outcomes by positively enhancing the financial wellbeing of individuals, families and communities,” Anne said.
“We’ve seen and admired the work that Dress for Success has undertaken to change lives of women in the Hunter who otherwise would not have had the capacity to do so.”
“We’re proud to make this contribution that will ensure the doors to the Dress for Success showroom in Broadmeadow remain open for the next year.”
With branches in Sydney, Illawarra and Newcastle-Hunter, every year Dress for Success Sydney supports more than 2,500 women into employment across New South Wales. The signature Styling service and suite of Career Support offerings aim to help women overcome bias and discrimination when entering or re-entering the workforce - at no cost to the women needing the services. Transgender and nonbinary individuals, comfortable in women’s spaces, are warmly welcomed.
Why the Newcastle-Hunter branch of Dress for Success Sydney must continue operations
1. Most recent figures showed there are large differences between homeless and marginally housed people in Newcastle and the general population:
• Unemployment rate of homeless and marginally housed people (37%) was 5 times as high as the general population (7.5%)
• Unemployment rate for homeless and marginally housed females was 29%
• Workforce participation rate for homeless and marginally housed people was only 50% (general population 61%)*
2. The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on the gender gap in Australia. Women have been disproportionately impacted, magnifying the barriers they already face in getting a job and staying in the workforce**.
• 70.6% of people in Newcastle did unpaid domestic work a week before census night, higher than that of NSW (66.5%) and Australia (67.7%)***.
• Remote learning during and post the pandemic and the loss of formal and informal childcare and household support services led to a big rise in unpaid work during the lockdowns and disproportionally borne by women****.
• Newcastle LGA has more domestic violence per capita than Parramatta, Hornsby, Dungog, Lake Macquarie, or the state average*****.
3. Over 54% of Dress for Success Sydney clients secure permanent jobs after taking advantage of our services.
* City of Newcastle: ‘A snapshot of people experiencing homelessness & insecure housing in Newcastle’.
** Grattan Institute: ‘Women’s Work, The impact of the COVID crisis on Australian women’, 2021.
*** Australian Bureau of Statistics: ‘Newcastle 2021 Census All persons QuickStats,’ 2021.
**** Grattan Institute: ‘Women’s Work, The impact of the COVID crisis on Australian women,’ 2021.
***** Newcastle Museum: ‘The COVID-19 Pandemic and Domestic Violence for City of Newcastle.’