Santa Fe's homeless and unemployed young people have a new group of adults on their side as the Interfaith Leadership Alliance launches Cool Closet on May 6. Cool Closet is a place to get appropriate clothing plus mentoring on applying for and hanging onto an entry-level job, its coordinator told the Journal.
"We expect this to be a place where people aged 16 to 25 can get some clothing for job interviews and for work, and some good mentoring to help them get a toehold in the local business world," Sue Breslauer said.
The project exists solely on donations of cash and clothing in a surplus temporary building on Santa Fe Public Schools property on La Madera Street. It is staffed by volunteers. Any client of the project must be referred by a local church or a social service agency. All services are free.
At Cool Closet, clients are given clothing. If the client needs items that can't be found on the racks of good-looking donated clothes and shoes— steel-toed boots or a uniform, for example— Cool Closet will purchase the items for the client, Breslauer said.
Of possibly even more value is the free advice available. Mentors will be available to help clients polish application and interviewing skills and to provide encouragement and advice in the early days of a new job. Some volunteers even will help with choosing workplace-appropriate clothing, and will provide makeup and hairstyling tips if desired.
Volunteer Lena Keslin from Temple Beth Shalom said she thought the project sounded perfect for someone with her retailing and fashion-industry background.
"My friends ask me to go shopping with them," she said with a shrug. "I love kids, and I think if I can help them feel better about themselves and still feel like themselves— then it's a perfect fit."
The volunteers— who come from several churches, temples and mosques— are being trained, Breslauer said, and all mentoring sessions will take place at Cool Closet, which will be open from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday starting May 7. A grand opening is slated May 6, to be attended by Mayor David Coss.
Volunteer Erik Mason of Westminster Presbyterian Church said his interest in the project grew out of work on the Interfaith Coalition for Shelter for All.
"I doubt that I'll be working directly with the youth— there are people more qualified than I to do that," Mason said, as he carried armfuls of clothes into the building. "But I'll be available to do what I can to keep things running."
Also keeping things running was Will Karp, a retired business planner and strategic planner who designed the Web site (www.coolcloset.org) and who will be mentoring clients.
"I felt this was something I could do that would help others and give me a sense of personal satisfaction," Karp, of Temple Beth Shalom, said.
When the Interfaith Leadership Alliance (ILA) reorganized itself 15 months ago, the clergy who joined represented 29 different churches, mosques and synagogues, said Breslauer, who is the ILA's coordinator as well as coordinator of Cool Closet.
"The leaders decided to focus on homelessness, and then even more narrowly on homeless youth, which is a problem in Santa Fe," she said. "We wanted to supplement what Youth Shelters is doing, and what Youth Works is doing."
Youth Works is a grass-roots nonprofit organization that provides job training and life skills to Santa Fe young people. It was the Youth Works coordinators who made it possible for Cool Closet to find rent-free accommodation next to the temporary building housing their offices.
Cool Closet doesn't have much money and keeps none on-site, Breslauer said. Some churches have made financial donations, and there has been a grant from the Santa Fe Community Foundation, but basically the whole operation has gotten started on, well, a shoestring.
The youthful clients will not be charged, but they will be asked to volunteer, either at Cool Closet or elsewhere in the community, Breslauer said. "Another way we're asking them to pay back is to 'volunteer to help themselves' by taking the curriculum we're developing," she said.
Karp, who's helping develop the brief reading materials on subjects like choosing the right career and job searching, said the curriculum is meant to supplement the personal mentoring, not substitute for it. One part of the curriculum will be actual practice on several different kinds of job applications, he added.
Eventually, Cool Closet also will offer free workshops on how to dress, how to interview and how to look at a job from the employer's perspective, Breslauer said.
"The ILA believes this project will not only serve at-risk and homeless youths, but also the business community and the community at large," she said.
If You Go
HOW MUCH: Free, but RSVP by Thursday to Sue Breslauer, 982-1376 or tbssac@comcast.net
Clothing donations can be taken to Cool Closet, 420 La Madera St., or to Temple Beth Shalom, 205 E. Barcelona.
Financial donations can be arranged by calling Sue Breslauer, Temple Beth Shalom, 982-1376.
