How Phoenix-area clothing banks empower people and how Season for Sharing helps
Almost every person Brenda Martin has met at Agua Fria Food and Clothing Bank has a story.
"Anybody could have taken a wrong step or a wrong path and ended up where some of these people are," Martin said of the visitors to the Avondale nonprofit.
Volunteering at the nonprofit's clothing boutique, where everything is free, has become Martin's passion. She enjoys creating a safe space for people who stop in and often get to see someone's eyes light up over a clean pair of pants or socks, she said.
Agua Fria Food and Clothing Bank received $7,500 from The Arizona Republic's 2022-23 Season for Sharing campaign to provide food and clothing for nearly 1,000 families in crisis.
Make an online donation to Season for Sharing by clicking here.
Readers of The Arizona Republic raised more than $1.6 million for 158 Arizona nonprofits during the 2022-23 campaign. Several of these nonprofits have programs that help people obtain quality clothing, including:
Assistance League of Phoenix received $10,000 in support of Operation School Bell, which provides more than 200 Phoenix-area students and children living in extreme poverty with new wardrobes to help them succeed in school.
Dress for Success Phoenix received $7,500 to provide women with career resources, personal styling and networking opportunities.
Harvest Compassion Center in Phoenix received $7,500 to provide food and clothing to more than 3,700 Maryvale-area children ages 2-12.
St. Joseph the Worker in Phoenix received $7,500 to help people transition successfully into the workforce by providing them with clothes, training and other support to help them get hired.
Tempe Community Council received $7,500 to help provide personal hygiene items, school supplies and clothing to 1,800 Tempe middle and high school students in need of a helping hand.
Clothes can do so much more than protect the people who select them, according to people who have benefited from the work of these nonprofits. Clothes have the power to comfort, boost confidence and act as a reminder of a person's value, they said.
Assistance League of Phoenix
Nelson De Los Santos and Sebastian Ribikare are longtime friends. The men met as middle schoolers at Loyola Academy and have been close since.
As low-income students in the private program that serves as a feeder for Brophy College Preparatory, part of their annual routine was to pick a new uniform from the Assistance League's Operation School Bell clothing drive.
De Los Santos said he didn't mind wearing a uniform and not being able to style himself for school. To him, the uniform represented he belonged in the elite school community despite his immigrant background and family's limited income.
Ribakare, now an Assistance League of Phoenix board member, said Operation School Bell meant less stress for him and his family.
After they transferred into Brophy, they continued going to the clothing drive. Ribakare selected a pair of white sneakers every year of high school, he said. Then they made him feel "on top of the world." He buys his white sneakers now, which continue as an efficient wardrobe staple.
The Sojourner Center
Prisilia Quijano arrived at the Sojourner Center in 2015 after driving across the country to escape an unhappy marriage. The nonprofit shelter accepted her, her young son, their Saint Bernard and their cat.
The Sojourner Center has a boutique where shelter residents can use vouchers to choose clothing and household items. Those vouchers helped her realize that she'd been an unequal partner in her relationship because spending them was the first spending decision she'd made without permission. She chose a Michael Kors dress.
"It was kind of like a symbol of my freedom," Quijano said.
Working in the Sojourner Center boutique was her first job, and she furnished her first apartment with items she found there. Eventually, Quijano was able to save enough money to buy her own house. Now, Quijano donates clothes to the boutique she once benefited from. The Michael Kors dress she fell in love with years ago remains in her closet as a reminder of her growth at the Sojourner Center.
Dress for Success Phoenix
Arely Martinez decided to get support from Dress for Success after she was fired from a job she worked for six years.
She hadn't been satisfied in her old position, but she didn't know what to do next. After job hunting for almost 2 months, she said she felt lost. Worthless, even.
Martinez said working on her resume with help from the nonprofit's Career Center reminded her of her value as a person and an employee. Thanks to women at Dress for Success — the staff, volunteers and other women in search of assistance — Martinez regained her confidence, she said.
The cherry on top of her experience with the nonprofit was a patterned suit skirt combo she could wear with the heels she calls her "empowering shoes." In addition to providing women with interview attire, Dress for Success gifts women who secure a job a week's worth of work-appropriate clothing.
Nearly a year later, Martinez is happy at her job and meets her clients in a Dress for Success suit.
Donate to Season for Sharing
Since 1993, because of readers like you, The Arizona Republic's Season for Sharing campaign has raised and given away more than $73 million to Arizona nonprofits. Please help The Republic continue supporting our neighbors in need.
Where does the money go?
When you give to Season for Sharing, you're contributing to nonprofits that help teachers and students, aid older Arizonans, and support struggling children and families. The Republic pays all administrative costs, so 100% of donations go back to the community.
Ways to give
Fill out the secure online form at sharing.azcentral.com.
Text "SHARING" to 91-999 and click on the link in the text message.
Go online at facebook.com/seasonforsharing and look for the featured "DONATE HERE" post.
Clip the coupon on Page 4A of The Arizona Republic, fill it out and mail it to P.O. Box 29250, Phoenix, AZ 85038-9250.
Scan the QR code with your smartphone camera, and click on the link to donate.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix-area nonprofit clothing banks empower people, here's how to help
