PHILADELPHIA — For Beatrice Tolbert, the Wardrobe is somewhere she can see people who are looking forward to seeing her.
Stepping inside, the shop near Fourth and Callowhill Streets looks like a typical thrift store. Strappy sandals, knee-high boots, and conservative flats are displayed on tables in front of racks of work clothes, casual wear, and second-hand accessories. But the Wardrobe has a mission: to empower vulnerable groups, including those who've been impacted by the criminal justice system and are looking for a new lease on life — starting with a new look.
"When I first entered and received help from them, I was destitute, indigent, and I lived on the streets," Tolbert said. Today, she's PHA housing voucher recipient No. 1,075. Tolbert will be in the first cohort of voucher applicants expected to receive the subsidized housing.
On Thursday, the Wardrobe held an event for women, who were able to bag six pieces of clothing and a pair of shoes for free, get bra fittings, and access resources from the Mural Arts restorative justice program.
"The success from the Wardrobe has helped me," Tolbert said. "I don't know where I would be without this place."
While the Wardrobe's former iteration, Career Wardrobe, only catered to women, the organization has taken on a new name and location and now opens its doors to men and nonbinary people.
Thursday's event was part of "National Smart & Sexy Day," an initiative from a lingerie company that was providing complimentary bra fittings and bras. Women had to sign up to participate.
The Wardrobe generally sees clients by appointment, and works largely with formerly incarcerated individuals, young people aging out of foster care, unemployed job seekers, and other vulnerable groups. It's stocked with casual wear, too, but focuses largely on professional clothing, business casual clothes and items for specialty jobs like medical scrubs and nonskid shoes.
Their reach goes beyond people with criminal records.
Annette Townsend connected with the Wardrobe through a recovery house where she was staying. Now 10 months sober, Thursday's event was right on time for Townsend. She was shopping for scrubs because, on Friday, she started her first job as a home health-care aide since entering rehab nearly a year ago.
"I just got hired yesterday and I got work tomorrow, so I'm excited and everything," Townsend said. "The uniforms is right on time. God is good."
A group of young women from Mural Arts' women's reentry program also shopped for workwear Thursday. The program offers paid job training and skill building and public art projects for formerly incarcerated women. It also helps connect them with expungement and education resources.
The new cohort launched on March 6 and had already had an impact — including prepping Brianna Smallwood for a new career. She's working on getting her GED and, eventually, pursuing nursing.
Aleesha Lopez is a Mural Arts reentry alum. After a short, three-month jail stint, Lopez found herself unable to get a job for about five years.
"I couldn't do anything that has to do with kids [or] the medical field," she said. "If I wanted to be an officer, I couldn't."
Lopez eventually connected with Mural Arts, was able to get her record expunged, and is studying social work at the Community College of Philadelphia. Thursday was her third visit to the Wardrobe.
"We come here to [learn] to dress properly for an interview," Lopez said. Touting assistance from her program's coordinator Rasheeda Bagwell, Lopez continued: "[The Wardrobe] helps us out a lot."
