From the Desk of Jerri Rosen – Rebuilding to rebuild the lives of others!
Our world took a major turn on the morning of February 2nd when a four-alarm fire destroyed everything in our Irvine headquarters. Every computer. Every manila folder. Every piece of paper. Every rolling garment rack. Every item of clothing. Everything.
While it was my intention to do a lot of celebrating this year, our 30th anniversary, we’ll do that later once we’ve handled the challenge in front of us. This has also been a time of remarkable support. The tremendous outpouring from our community to help us rebuild has been truly astounding and we are so very grateful. Thank you for your donations!
I want you to know that we are in full recovery mode. We are rebuilding Working Wardrobes, once again, into the effective and dynamic nonprofit the community has always known – yet better, stronger, and bigger to serve more clients! Thanks to the gracious team at Goodwill, we are working in temporary offices at their Fitness Center in Santa Ana until the end of March.
Here is an update:
Our temporary donation center at the Goodwill in Santa Ana will close as of March 7, 2020. Our plan is to begin accepting clothing donations again, in our new location (TBD) no later than May 1, 2020.
The Computer Lab is up and running, and our VetNet program that helps veterans find meaningful employment didn’t miss a day of service. Many of our veteran clients were so astonished at the coordination and speed of this undertaking, they asked to volunteer. If you would like to volunteer also, we could really use your support! Sign up HERE.
We’ve come a long way in a few short weeks, but we have miles and miles to go. We need a permanent address to continue to deliver on our mission, so if you’re aware of a generous donor who has a commercial property where we can create our new home – or discounted real estate in this area – please let me know, soonest.
Many of you have been asking how you can help. We have plenty of clothing donations at this time, thank you! What we really need are financial donations that make a direct and immediate impact on the lives of our clients. You can also fundraise for us and register your team for the 3rd Annual Walk in Their Shoes 5K to support our VetNet program helping veterans in our community. Sign up HERE.
I’ve been wracking my brain to come up with the words to express my gratitude for your love and generosity. It’s a humbling experience to be surrounded by such goodness. Let me just say a huge THANK YOU and please know that we are on our way back to helping thousands of additional clients achieve meaningful employment and self-sufficiency.
In love and gratitude,
Jerri Rosen
CEO/Founder Working Wardrobes
