BoomerGirl Diary

Hanford, Calif. — The trunk of a car is an unlikely place for a community clothes closet. But Zona Hoggard, an instructor with a Kings County, Calif., occupational program, was desperate.

When she began working for the Business Technology Center 11 years ago, she noticed many of her clients wore jeans and T-shirts to job interviews. Already strapped for cash, Hoggard said, clients didn't have money for food and shelter - let alone a new outfit for job interviews.

"When you want to get a job, you need to look like you can do the job," Hoggard said. "I began to realize that they were falling short sometimes simply because they didn't have the right attire. You're not as confident. When a student puts on a blazer, it empowers you. You immediately square your shoulders and take on a more professional demeanor. ... That's what employers are looking for."

So Hoggard started asking around for help. Little by little, co-workers began donating slacks, skirts, blazers, nylons, pumps, purses and ties. Other county employees also brought in clothes.

With no storage place, Hoggard used her car, a 1990 Volvo.

"I would take the students out to the trunk of my car and say, `Pick out what you want,'" she recalled.

Since then, the Community Clothes Closet has grown too big for Hoggard's trunk. Last year, the closet provided professional attire to more than 300 county residents. Churches and county agencies, such as Welfare-to-Work, seek the closet for help.

Despite the nonprofit group's growing success, the community closet continues to find perennial stumbling blocks: the need for more clothes, more money, additional volunteers and yes, more storage.

With no income, the closet has been forced to move from one free or subsidized storage space to the next since its inception in 2002. Fundraisers have helped the traveling closet settle in the nooks of old buildings and churches.

Two weeks ago, the community closet moved into a former Sunday school classroom at the Episcopal church in Hanford.

Racks of business casual outfits and suits stuffed in oversized, transparent bags lined the cramped room. A broken pencil sharpener jutted out from a wall.

The room, about 500 square feet, is two, maybe three times smaller than the group's previous home, officials say. But for now, anything will do because the demand for professional clothes continues. Outfits are free to people who make appointments and get themselves to the closet.

"We cater to people from the smallest to the largest," said Sherill Calhoun, director of the community closet.

The Community Clothes Closet isn't a new idea.

At Fresno City College, eligible students get free business attire through the "Suiting Up for Success" program. Annually, about 200 to 300 students are given clothes. A majority of them are part of Welfare-to-Work or other short-term programs in the business division.

The new and old clothes are donated by local residents and businesses at a "store" that has been at Manchester Center for nearly a decade.

"When the students go through our classes, we give them the skills they need to do a job," said Marilyn Behringer, dean of instruction for the business division. "But they have to have the ability to land that job. If they cannot make a good impression during the interview, they're not going to get hired."

Behind every donated outfit is a story of sorrow and hope. In Kings County, most clients are young, hardworking parents.

Debbie Nava, 39, never finished high school. Nava recently moved from Stockton to Hanford and enrolled in Hoggard's program, where she learned of the free clothes. She said it isn't too late to set a good example for her four children, ages 12 through 20.

"I never knew how to dress like this," she said, pointing to her blue-collared shirt and black slacks. "I never had confidence. Now when I get dressed, my kids ask me, `Mom, why are you dressed so nice? Where are you going?'"

Augustus Fritz, 24, recently wore a white-collared shirt with a tie and black slacks to a job fair. Employers approached him for jobs, he said.

"I felt outstanding," he said. "I was nervous, but I took pride in the fact that I was there."

While sorting through the closet's racks last week, Denise Lupton, 21, found a royal purple blouse that had a matching floral skirt.

"Oh, Mrs. Hoggard," she exclaimed, "I found a really great outfit!"

Hoggard, her hair coiffed in perfect, big curls, gave Lupton an approving smile. "You can have it if you'd like."

Lupton, mother to two young children, pressed the outfit against her chest. In a girlish tone, she said, "This outfit is really cute. It's totally my style!"

Hoggard said people such as Lupton keep her and her group going. Hoggard said her goal is to see people become confident and self-reliant. One way, she said, is giving them outfits that make them feel "like a million bucks."