Nonprofit provides clothes to BHS nurses
Butler Memorial Hospital's Brady Street parking lot was filled with music, laughter and cheers for the first “Dress for Success” mobile event Thursday.
Dress for Success Pittsburgh, a nonprofit organization that supplies gently used, high-end work clothes to women free of charge, approached the hospital about bringing its mobile store to Butler for health care workers.
Kris Bowser, the hospital's development and event manager, said 28 nurses signed up to “shop” and receive free, new scrubs from the organization in addition to clothes from size 0 to 5X and accessories.“It's great for morale,” Bowser said. “This is happy. There's so much that's not happy going on in there.”The nurses in attendance received a bag to fill with clothes, shoes, jewelry, scrubs and even beauty products from the decked-out boutique bus. Dress for Success representatives were there to cheer on and encourage the nurses to have a good time.
Macie Stepanian and Ashley Smith, patient care and clinical assistants at the hospital, respectively, said they received an email about the event and hurried to sign up. Smith said two pairs of scrubs can cost $160, and a nurse should have four or five pairs.“I'm in school right now, so it's nice they're giving away free scrubs,” Smith said.“You never know what's going to happen (at work),” Stepanian said. “I needed scrubs anyhow. It means so much that they're helping the community.”Erram Ahmed, of Dress for Success, said there's no limit to how much women can take home with them.“Some women will say they haven't gone bra shopping in five years, so even if bras are limited we'll say, 'Take it!'” Ahmed said. “There's no hard-and-fast rules. We're here to help people with whatever they need.”
According to Ahmed, Dress for Success has had nearly 100 mobile events this year in Pittsburgh and surrounding areas. She said success varies by client.“Some need a pair of leggings, and we provide that. That's success,” Ahmed said. “Some people come and don't expect to find anything. If we can send them home with a bag, and they had a good time, that's success.”Lauren McElhaney, a development specialist at the hospital, helped coordinate the event with Bowser and said they hope to partner with the organization again for future events.“They're getting to treat themselves,” said McElhaney. “Success is the laughter and giggles we've heard from the nurses.”
