CINCINNATI -- Jackie Neville's passion is creating dream closets. She does it professionally for the clients who hire her to help them curate and declutter, and she does it recreationally for women who might not have the resources to afford any new clothes of their own -- let alone pieces like the kind she culls from clients' closets.
"These women can't necessarily afford my services (as a personal stylist) or afford to splurge at a mall somewhere, so they're getting that same look-good feel-good in a different way," she said.
Neville hopes her monthly clothing donations to Dress for Success Cincinnati, which provides low-income women with professional development tools and sharp clothes to match, will help women in the same situation her mother once faced.
"My upbringing was a lot of violence and drugs and things that probably children should not be exposed to," she said. "My mom and I are abuse survivors together. … I wish Dress for Success had been around back then to help her get the resources she needed to regain her economic independence and escape with her children instead of having to wait so long."
Her personal devotion to the cause totals a carful of donations each month and an increased awareness of Dress for Success among her client base.
"I just know they're going to be stoked to find these barely worn things," client Michelle Andersen said. "And it's going to go somewhere it's going to get used right."
