Seventy-eight female patrons of the Heartside neighborhood mission Dégagé Ministries received free clothing, accessories and, perhaps most importantly, a little individual attention, encouragement and a lot of respect.
This clothing, accessories, individual attention, encouragement, and respect was possible thanks to a generous donation from the women’s clothing company
cabi and the
Heart of cabi Foundation.
Bob Kreter, marketing manager at
Dégagé Ministries, describes the donation as “a blessing” and the overall experience for the women “transformational.” Kreter says the Dégagé donation is one of 20 locations throughout the country that is on the receiving end of the cabi program.
Kreter said the clothing donation was a surprise and his team had to work quickly to make the program happen. It came about thanks to a Grand Rapids-based cabi Stylist, who recommended Dégagé. Kreter says it is perfect fit. “We both are focused on transformation, not transactions. Like us, they work with women one-on-one.” Kreter says besides clothing (up to eight different pieces of clothing) and accessories donation, each participant had one-on-one time with the cabi Stylist.
Launched in 2002, cabi provides a designer women’s clothing collection and is the nation’s largest social selling apparel company, powered by their independent salespeople, known as Stylists. The Heart of cabi Foundation was launched in 2005 with the mission to encourage and empower women in need. From distributing clothing to U.S. communities affected by natural disasters to empowering women entrepreneurs in the developing world to work their way out of poverty, cabi invests in women across the globe.
Photos courtesy of Dégagé Ministries
Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs News Editor
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