Our Impact
Working Wardrobe is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to combating clothing insecurity in the Greater High Point community. It is our mission to provide clothing to women and children in an effort to help facilitate and enrich their lives. Working Wardrobe is also committed to providing educational opportunities that will help participants develop the tools necessary to succeed in the work environment.
Pop-Up Clothing Donation Shops
The primary charitable efforts of Working Wardrobe focus on combating clothing insecurity by providing attire to women in need. To accomplish this goal, we collect clothing from both individual and corporate donors. We have them cleaned and mended, then distribute the clothing at donation events that take the form of “pop-up” shops located at our non-profit community partner locations. We work directly with the staff of the non-profit partner to schedule appointments for some of their female clients who are most in need of professional attire. On the scheduled appointment date Working Wardrobe’s volunteers arrive with an assortment of clothing in the appropriate sizes. Each client receives a one-hour personalized appointment. With help from Working Wardrobe volunteers, participants leave the donation event with a week’s worth of workwear, along with accessories, free of charge. As an important goal of our efforts is to provide confidence, along with clothing, we bring a seamstress with us to all events to ensure that the selected clothing fits each woman appropriately.
To date, we have hosted clothing donation events with several partners in the Greater High Point community. These include organizations such as, the C3 (Community Collaboration for Children), D-UP, Family Justice Center, Family Service of the Piedmont, Human Trafficking Resource Center, Youth Focus’ HEARTH Transitional Housing Program, Macedonia Family Resource Center, Reading Connections, and the YWCA. Collectively, Working Wardrobe has hosted hour-long appointments with 52 women, each of whom received approximately one week’s worth of outfits (including shoes, socks, and handbags) free of charge. The value of which is over $50,000.
Other Clothing Donation Initiatives
In addition to our pop-up donation events, we work to get clothing into the hands of those in need in several other ways. We are proud to provide attire by way of Clothing Blessing Bags, which each contain a week’s worth of pre-assembled outfits. We have donated 67 Blessing Bags, each with a week’s worth of outfits for a total value of over $35,000. Some of our recipient organizations include Caring Services, Sisters of Hope, and West End Ministries.
Additionally, we’ve partnered with a number of local organizations to distribute our clothing collection via collaborations with other clothing closets and by supporting seasonal clothing drives. To date, we collected and distributed over 10,000 articles of clothing (worth over $160,000) to community partners that include The Good Shepherd Shop Clothing Closet, Communities in School’s School Resource Room, and Northwood Community Assembly. We’ve also partnered with organizations like the Junior League of High Point and the Rotary Club of High Point to provide clothing to Western North Carolina to aid victims of Hurricane Helene, as well as worked with Mantle Realty’s annual Prom Project and A Cleaner World’s Give-a-Kid-a-Coat Campaign.
Filling School Clothing Pantries
Another goal of Working Wardrobe’s charitable efforts is to provide clothes to local youth. To accomplish this goal, we collect attire from both individual and corporate donors. Once clean, mended, and sorted, Working Wardrobe volunteers donate the collected clothes to the clothing closets of Title 1 schools throughout High Point. To date, we have provided over 5,000 items of youth attire (with a value of over $30,000) to schools that include: Allen Jay Elementary, Fairview Elementary, High Point Central, Johnson Street Global Studies, Oak Hill Elementary, Parkview Village Elementary, Shadybrook Elementary, Southern Guilford Middle, Southwest Elementary, and Union Hill Elementary Schools.
Research shows that more than 20 million children in the United States are currently growing up without basic essentials like clothing, shoes, diapers, and school supplies. Further, two in every five American children are unable to adequately dress themselves each day, and “lack of clothing” accounts for three of the top ten reasons students miss school. Thus, we are passionate about supporting youth by supplementing established clothing pantries at the schools in and around High Point.
Educational Workshops
At Working Wardrobe, we believe in the power of education to empower. In April of 2026, we hosted our inaugural women’s empowerment training series, entitled Wardrobe to Workplace. This transformative six-week program was designed to support women’s personal and professional development by helping to remove barriers that many women face when striving for economic stability. Sixteen ladies graduated from this series, which sought to arm its participants with the skills and confidence necessary to find jobs, sustain employment, and advance professionally. This initiative is the result of a generous Community Development Grant from First Citizens Bank.
Weekly training sessions were facilitated by local experts and included topics, such as Finance 101: Developing Financial Literacy, Public Speaking and Interpersonal Communication, Packaging Yourself for the Job Market, Leadership Skills Training, Charting a Career Trajectory, and Dressing for Success: The Psychology of First Impressions. Designed to meet the needs of working women, each meeting included both dinner and childcare. In addition to six weeks of educational workshops, each graduate of the Wardrobe to Workplace program was gifted a week’s worth of professional attire, as well as a one-year membership in Women in Motion of High Point. These additional professional resources were selected to provide ongoing support that should make a lasting difference in the lives of participants and by extension, their families.
