I’ve already written about new year resolutions. Here’s a re-start, a new start, and – hopefully – not a false start.

After about a dozen years’ hiatus, I’ve returned to volunteerism with a non-profit called Working Wardrobes.

I’ve always been a bit of a clothes horse, particularly a lover of shoes.

My return to wardrobing women-in-need is tenuous because, as a Baby Boomer, I have gimpy ankles and knees. 2019 was a year of rehab, including physical therapy, acupuncture, and loads of Tylenol and Advil. I have become a mini queen of pain.

I am also a queen of miracles. Happy circumstances that just, well, happen.

A chance FB memory post of a twelve-year-old photo of a group of volunteers – honored for an award – was posted by the founder of Working Wardrobes for a New Start. I spied my smiling self… and, upon closer view, a blouse that I still owned after a major purge of my clothing.

Do ye see me?

I private messaged her a “Happy New Year” and she replied. One thing led to another as we messaged back-and-forth… Within days I’d agreed to return as a personal shopper volunteer at Working Wardrobes for a New Start. Jeri Rosen is convincing, good at dispensing compliments, and the one-one work with a woman re-entering the workforce is more rewarding than I can state.

I’ve only been to the facility twice. It was a remarkable experience. I helped several women, including me, re-start, refresh, renew.

Here’s the non-profit’s website: https://workingwardrobes.org It’s authentic and true. You may donate cash and/or clothing, interact with clients, or become a client yourself. You may shop in one of their stores, which gleans from the best of the clothing donations, to fund the non-profit’s efforts. Btw, with the increasing rotation of soldiers, male and female, at Camp Pendleton, there’s an active component titled NetVet.