Things We Love Thursday: Sparrow House

Contributed by Emma Callin

Being advocates of the slow fashion movement it should come as no surprise that we encourage buying quality over quantity and repairing/upcycling/consigning old clothes rather than throwing them out.  Here in Calgary there are many consignment shops that will take clothing you no longer want, wear or fit, but another alternative is to donate your old clothing - drop it off at Studio Intent and we'll give it to Sparrow House.

There are several organizations in Calgary that accept clothing donations but Sparrow House - run by Next Step Ministries - is unique in their specific need for gently-used women's business clothing; given our downtown location and clientele of professional women we are ideally placed to receive donations of this kind. Katelynn Robertson, program facilitator at Next Step Ministries, gives us the details on what these donations are used for.  

The staff at Next Step Ministries

What is Sparrow House?

"Sparrow House is a second stage, long-term transitional home for women who have had involvement with the sex industry and are wanting to be free of that lifestyle. The women we support have also experienced addiction, homelessness, and abuse at several points throughout their lives. Through these experiences, many of them have lost a significant amount of their personal belongings."

What do you do?

"Each woman who enters our programs has a unique story, but our goal is to support each one in achieving her best life possible. As they work through our programs, one route the women can take is to return to school for upgrading or for post-secondary education. The second option is for the women to gain employment - and with that, a new business wardrobe is a huge need. Some of the women have never worked in a professional occupation before and so have never owned business clothes."

How does Sparrow House help these women achieve their goals?

"While the women live in Sparrow House, they also attend the Next Step Ministries Day Program where we teach life skills, character development, personal health, work towards personal goals, volunteer together, and also take time to celebrate the accomplishments the women are making. It is our expectation that the women use the Day Program as a practicing ground for what it will be like to show up to a job -- including arriving in a timely manner, and of course, dressing appropriately!"

"For some this is more of a struggle than for others, but our hope is that by creating a professional environment in the day program, they will begin to acquire the tools they will need to be successful in the professional world. We hold the women accountable for having a clean, modest, and put-together look that will help them to feel confident in themselves as they venture out into interviews, jobs, and new opportunities as they rebuild their lives. However, this can be a challenge when they lack business clothes in which to practice this type of professionalism in."

How can we help?

"Thank you so much for your willingness to donate business clothing to support the women at Sparrow House. In general, the women in our programs require M-2X sizes. We appreciate your interest in encouraging the women we serve in being the very best they can be!"

For the safety and privacy of the women living at Sparrow House the address is kept private.  If you would like to donate to them directly you can do so here.