This project was a joint effort between the Sunrise Newport Beach Rotary Club, Working Wardrobes and the Salvation Army. Each of these partners played a critical role in the project.

The Newport Beach Sunrise Rotary Club donated and entire van full of working attire to Working Wardrobes. This served as the “kickoff” to the project. In addition, the club members acted as the coaches for each of the Steps to Success Workshops. There were six weekly workshops focusing on identifying job skills, “elevator speeches,” elements of the job application, interviewing techniques, budgeting and the next four steps to finding a job.

Working Wardrobes provided the curriculum for the workshops and training for our coaches. In addition, the Newport Sunrise Rotary Club sponsored a Self-esteem Day hosted by Working Wardrobes and Men’s Wearhouse. The clients were outfitted for success with suits, shoes and all the accessories. In addition they received hairstyling, messages ad day-planners. Members of the Newport Beach Rotary Club acted as personal shoppers and assisted the clients in the selection and fitting of their working wardrobe right down to the tying of neckties.

The Salvation Arm provided the clients who were all male residents of their facility in Anaheim. Their ages ranged from 19 to 49 and all were all enrolled in Salvation Army’s Work Therapy program. Each Saturday, at the Anaheim facility, three to four Success Coaches from the Newport Beach Rotary club conducted 90-minute workshops designed to teach and build confidence in the clients for their job search. Following the final workshop, a small graduation ceremony was held and each client who completed the workshop series was awarded a certificate from Working Wardrobes and a plaque from the Sunrise Newport Beach Rotary Club to remind them that our club members were all behind them.

There are currently 49 members in the Sunrise Newport Beach Rotary club. Over the course of eight weeks 40 of our club members donated suits, served as Success Coaches during the workshops, acted as personal shoppers during the Self-esteem Day or attended graduation to show support for these men. By any standard, that is extraordinary participation from a volunteer organization.

The results from this project will be carried on for a lifetime for some of these men. For others, it will take some more time. Not all attempts at recovering from drugs, alcohol and felony convictions meet with success the first time. We began the project with 12 clients, only eight of those finished. Nonetheless, for the eight that finished, our club members touched their lives in a way that few in our society ever have. At graduation they were grateful to our club, but interestingly enough, our club was also grateful to them for letting us become part of their success.