Monday, March 16th, 2020
To our Dress for Success Vancouver Family:
We’re reaching out today to provide an update on Dress for Success Vancouver’s programming and operational response to COVID-19.
The safety and wellbeing of all our volunteers, staff, clients, donors, and champions, is paramount in our minds.
As an institutional leader and member of our broader community, our leadership has made the decision to suspend Dressing Services and clothing donation intake, effectively immediately.
During this period, we are suspending all in-person programming and fundraising activities, including our Spring Gala scheduled for May 7, 2020. Staff will be working remotely. Volunteer shifts involving in-person contact (Dressing Consultants, Administration, & Sorting) are also suspended effective immediately. All workshops and cohort activity will continue remotely, using digital meeting technology, as able. These steps mean that the boutique is closed, as of today. We will assess an appropriate date to re-open in-person activities in the coming weeks.
It is with heavy hearts that we’re sharing these decisions. We will miss the community-building that our in-person services and events provide to our clients, volunteers, staff, and champions. However, we are leading from our value of empowerment – helping women help themselves – and providing every opportunity for all of us to remain healthy and to support each other’s well-being.
The social and economic upheaval that we are and will certainly continue to experience in the coming weeks and months makes our mission of empowering women into the workforce more important than ever. I know that you stand with us in being ready to take on this challenge as the weeks unfold.
As we all practice social distancing, we know that connection is still important to our community. We are all in this together and staff are looking into ways to keep our DFSV Family connected throughout the coming weeks. We will be coming back to you soon with more information. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to reach out to staff with any questions.
We are continuously monitoring this evolving situation and will keep you updated over the coming days and weeks. Please make sure that you are subscribed to our newsletter so that we can stay in touch.
With kindness and gratitude,
Amy Robichaud
Executive Director, Dress for Success Vancouver
Monique Badun
Co-Chair, Dress for Success Vancouver
Elaine Willamson
Co-Chair, Dress for Success Vancouver