Written by Paige Dawson
Every year I’m thankful for the opportunity to hear the achievements, meet some participants and celebrate the success of Attitudes & Attire at its annual luncheon and fashion show. This charity has been near and dear to my heart for the past 20 years and to our team at MPD Ventures for the past 13 years (since our founding). Giving back is a core value for our team, so our firm has sponsored the luncheon and volunteered time and talent every year. Over 600 folks attended the event today to join the celebration and raise funds for its operations.
The agency helps women seek self-sufficiency by providing workshops and tools to raise self-esteem, promote ethics and build the confidence necessary to develop successful life and work skills. Via a series of three workshops and personal shopping in the agency’s boutique for donated work-appropriate clothing, over 1,500 women per year are able to grow and move toward their goals. Since founding, the staff has served more than 18,000 women in the Dallas area. Many of these women have escaped domestic abuse, been incarcerated or homeless, and tackled addiction and mental illness.
This year’s Kim Dawson Attitude Award was presented to the co-founders of the Human Rights Initiative (HRI) of North Texas, Serena Connelly and Betsy Healy. They help victims of human rights abuses seeking asylum in the U.S. by providing free legal services. The stories of these clients are poignant and eye-opening. Many of the HRI clients also become clients of A&A.
I’m impressed with the expansion of services that Attitudes & Attire offers to round out or better tailor the programs. This past year they launched the Boots to Heels program to provide specialized workshops for female veterans and the expansion of its Hopeful Smiles Dental Program to provide free dental care to the clients.
If you’d like to learn more about this great agency or how to volunteer as an individual or team with your company, please visit the website at www.attitudesandattire.org. They are always seeking speakers, boutique volunteers, clothing donations and the like.
I share a special thank you this year to Maureen Paulsen on our team who stepped up as the president of the board for Attitudes & Attire. She has shared her skill and passion to advance the strategic planning, messaging and outreach for the agency the past few years.
