taged people find jobs.
“It’s like they’re at a spa for the day,” said Piper Kamins, an employment specialist at Chrysalis who screens and selects women for the program. “They have people fawning over them, telling them how beautiful they are. It’s an exhilarating experience for these women — especially for those who are sleeping on the street or have to go home afterwards to an emergency shelter.”
Carlotta “Star” Herron, a workshop participant, said she was living at a shelter downtown and commuted to Santa Monica to enroll in the program. She said she’s been struggling to keep a roof over her head and stay employed for the last two years.
“From the first session I was amazed by all the energy in the room,” Herron said. “By the third session I had a new job. I told them, ‘You guys encouraged me. I love you guys.’”
Herron now has two jobs and works 13 to 16 hours a day in an effort to make ends meet. She said she almost didn’t make it to Monday’s makeover session.
“I was at my telemarketing job and my boss said I couldn’t have the night off,” Herron said. “I was so disappointed, but I kept making my calls. When he saw the tears in my eyes, he changed his mind and let me off. I was so afraid I wasn’t going to make it in time.”
The concept for the program came from the Los Angeles chapter of the Junior League, a volunteer organization that specializes in incubating projects that help women and children, according to Kamins.
“All I have to do is get the women there and bring the coffee,” she said. “The Junior League does all the rest.”
The program is offered twice a year — once in the spring and once in the fall. It's funded by donations from individuals and corporations, and through fund-raising events put on by the Junior League.
The first five sessions were held at the Ken Edwards Center at 1527 Fourth St. in downtown Santa Monica. Although about 30 women are selected to participate, only about half make it to graduation. Kamins said the drop-out rate was a result of the difficulties faced by women with severe economic difficulties and homelessness.
“We try to make it as easy as possible for them to get there,” she said. “We provide transportation, but sometimes it’s still too much for them to handle.”
The sessions include workshops in goal setting and job search techniques, resume building, and money and time management. The fourth session consists of a job panel where professional women talk about how they found their dream jobs.
“It’s really good for them to hear from successful women,” Kamins said. “To hear the process — to hear how they had to complete a low-wage internship for two years before they finally got the job they wanted.”
The fifth session teaches participants interview skills and includes mock interviews with Junior League volunteers. The final session, the makeover, is the session the women look forward to most of all, Kamins said.
Luanne Iannucci, a Junior League volunteer and hair stylist, said when the makeovers were completed, you couldn’t tell who was a Junior League member and who was a workshop participant.
“It’s not a vanity thing, it’s a self-esteem thing,” Iannucci said. “When you look good you feel better about yourself.”
The workshop participants, along with the Junior League volunteers and staff from Chrysalis, will get together for the last time on Wednesday for a graduation ceremony and dinner at Shutters on the Beach. Each participant will receive a briefcase, an organizer and a certificate of completion.
“It’s a beautiful event,” Kamins said. “There are a lot of tears.”
Kamins said she thinks the program has a long-lasting effect on the women.
“Sometimes they back track, but overall it sticks,” she said. “When they finish this program they have new ideas — and the motivation to follow their dreams.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 3, 2005. Read the original PDF.