About Us
Suit Yourself is a local, 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 2005 that provides Northeast Ohio’s women with career-appropriate attire and support to achieve independence during work/life transition.
Even before Suit Yourself was founded, a lot of work went into making this organization a reality. It began with a focus group, made up of women from business and social service agencies in Lake, Geauga, and Ashtabula counties, in late 2003 to establish the program’s goals. It blossomed from there as monthly meetings helped shape the organization, our bylaws, and the board of trustees.
After securing our first partner and fiscal agent, the Lakeland Foundation, Suit Yourself was able to hold our first clothing drive in September 2004 and announce our services to 50 local social service agencies and churches a few months later. Since serving the first client in March 2005, Suit Yourself has served hundreds of clients.
What We Do & How We Do It
We assist clients in the selection of interview appropriate outfits and refer clients to various job-training resources as needed. Our goal is to ensure women are given the necessary outfits and coaching to facilitate self-sufficiency. While technically our services are not strictly gender restricted,
Suit Yourself began with the intention of offering services specifically to women, who comprise the segment of our community that demonstrated the greatest need in our initial research.
Receiving professional clothing and accessories as donations regularly is important to keep us serving clients’ diverse needs. While most donations end up in our boutique, some high-quality items are identified for resale to make a greater impact and support our overall mission. These items are generally taken in during our monthly donation days and are items that are not suitable for clients to take or items we can gain funds from due to their expensive quality.
Of course, volunteers, financial contributions, local business partnerships, and referring agencies help keep us going and growing too!
MISSION
Suit Yourself’s mission is to provide Northeast Ohio’s women with career-appropriate attire and support to achieve independence during work/life transition.
CONTACT
Suit Yourself Inc
PO Box 574
Painesville, OH 44077