After three months of exhaustive, but gratifying hard work, my burgeoning non profit, Fashion For All, celebrates its inaugural event today! At 2pm, 247 women will enjoy a day of dignified shopping and access to community resources. Representatives from Dress For Success, Ft. Greene Snap, Bedford Stuyvesant’s Successful Start, and Mary Kaye Cosmetics, will be on hand to provide career and personal advice and resources. Over 30 volunteers will help our guests from styling their outfits to guiding them through our virtual store. For me, this is a small event. A test case to see what works, what doesn’t, and how this organization can evolve to launching similar satellite events across the country.

Believe me when I say that I’ve found my passion and I am committed to making this work. For the first time in my life I’m determined to not allow fear - fear of not getting a corporate job and all the uncomfortable comforts that it provides - to make my choices. Because shouldn’t we, I, at least try? It’s noble to have attempted to change one’s life rather than always wondering what if?

While this week has tested the limits of my patience (not to mention my credit card), it was rewarding in ways I can’t quite articulate. I’m learning how to cope with precarious and infuriating situations without freaking out, screaming, or throwing in the towel. I’m being challenged in ways that I need to be, I feel privileged that I’m not simply taking but rather I’m giving back to people who need it most, and I’m learning that the road to self-discovery is baffling and confusing, and beautiful, but it’s worth the chaos to venture on this journey. Because if you asked me five years ago, two years ago, what I wanted to do with my life, never would I have said…this. Now, I couldn’t imagine anything but this.

Anyway, I’ll have a fabulous recap, video interviews from the guests as well as the non profits so that you can learn more about the participating organizations and how you can get involved, as well as snaps from the event! Wish me luck, guys!

this snap is from last night. the first rack we started to prepare with the fabulous wares

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 16th, 2009 at 10:41 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.