By Janet Frasier, WHW Director 1996-97
When it comes to amazing and inspiring Sustaining Members, The Junior League of Salt Lake City has no shortage. Many of these women have profoundly impacted their communities in ways that can’t be measured, whether big or small.
In conjunction with our first ever JLSLC magazine, we highlight a few Sustaining Members who also conquered significant “firsts” in their League years. Here, we dive into an inspiring sentiment from Janet Frasier, the director during Women Helping Women’s opening year.
Janet Fraiser, WHW Director 1996-97
The discussion about adopting Women Helping Women as a League-owned project began in the fall of 1996. It was considered by the Community Research & Project Development Committee led by Janet Underwood along with committee members Cynthia Connor, Carrie Turner, and myself.
The 1996-97 League year was a tough one. The League had committed to hosting the 1999 U.S. Figure Skating Championships at what was then known as the Delta Center in February 1999. Even two years out, it demanded a lot of volunteers and committee work. The overall sentiment of members was that our plates were full and we shouldn’t take on any new projects, much less one that was League-owned.
However, our committee was undeterred and wanted to propose Women Helping Women to the membership. Through our community research, we had discovered three key things to make our case.
- The community need was real. When a former community-owned project went away, it created a significant gap in the Salt Lake Valley. We met with several agencies working with women who didn’t have any resources to help clothe clients attempting to reenter the workforce and regain self-sufficiency.
- The social environment was under pressure. In 1996, the U.S. Congress had passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Restoration Act. This bipartisan welfare reform program created timelines by which welfare recipients needed to return to work along with a five-year lifetime cap on receiving benefits. This created significant pressure on agencies and other nonprofits working with families to meet these deadlines. These agencies were clamoring for all the support they could get, including work-appropriate clothing to assist in giving clients a professional demeanor when interviewing for jobs.
- There was a specific gap in the work-appropriate clothing donation system that we believed we could fill. The greatest need for providing clothing was warehousing and distribution. The community-led project ended when a local warehouse donor sold the space to another business that made different choices about using the property. And while people are generous with donating used clothing, these donations were more than the organizations’ staff could handle.
In the old JLSLC’s office, we had a little space that we believed could help fill the gap and contribute to the larger need. The League had recently focused volunteer efforts on women and children specifically, so the Community Research & Project Development Committee put together a proposal:
- We would only focus on women’s clothing.
- We would stick to things that were work-appropriate, which at the time, was much more formal than it is today.
- We acknowledged that we weren’t in a position to evaluate which clients were in need, so we would work with agencies and nonprofits who were providing social services and have them refer clients to us. This also positioned us as collaborative partners versus “competitors” to the other organizations, making more sense for our community.
- Finally, we would start slowly with a small committee to get ourselves organized. The League fulfilled its commitment to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and CARE Fair, our other League-owned project. If this project didn’t seem sustainable after the first full two years, we’d adjust.
My greatest joy is the opportunity to be at the forefront of a continuum of women (and men) who have built WHW into the known and reliable resource it is today.
The board was still skeptical, however, so our committee called a meeting. I will never forget meeting with President Maureen Bennett, President-elect Carol Firmage, and President-elect Katy Andrews to plead our case. And, I will be eternally grateful that they were the type of leaders who were willing to take a risk. They agreed to let us present the proposal to the membership.
That presentation took place at a General Membership Meeting held in the Salt Lake County Council Chambers. We were prepared to sell our hearts out, convinced as we were that The League needed to act on this project. Over the years, several members who were there that night have recalled that we used PowerPoint slides to make the case and how unusual that was for a League meeting. Today that makes me laugh because it’s hard to remember a day when PowerPoints were novel.
Fortunately, the membership was also willing to take a leap of faith. They voted to adopt this new League-owned project. I can’t believe that was almost 24 years ago!
We began accepting donations in early 1998. Our first indication that the passionate pleas and hard work could bring forth transformational change was one Saturday morning when Lavine Shapiro accompanied her recently widowed father-in-law, Joel, to donate many boxes of his dear wife’s clothing. As the volunteers who were working so hard to make WHW a reality began to unpack these boxes, Mr. Shapiro and Lavine stayed around awhile. One by one, as we unpacked gorgeous vintage dresses and suits, he told us about the different items and his wife. We realized that we were bearing witness to his grief and his love. This donation was ceremonial, an important passage. I was so honored to be present, so grateful that JLSLC was providing this type of community need that we hadn’t even anticipated, and proud to be a member of our chapter who took risks to make this happen.
Since then, so many members, committee directors, and board leaders, and donors have continued to take a risk for WHW. The team that led the design and fundraising for our current building took a risk to dedicate more space for WHW, including adding a separate entrance. Two dozen volunteer directors have taken a risk by saying “yes” to leading the project each year, from Alison Swillinger to Kelly La Due to Marianne Guelker to Anne Nebeker to Kristin Kraus and so many more. When Kristin was directing, the late Peter Kraus faithfully supported the closet by tirelessly hunting down deals for new, unused clothing items he knew the closet always needed. Lisa Owens followed in her mother’s footsteps as a second-generation WHW director. Under Annie Evan’s leadership, the WHW Closet got a makeover to create an exclusive boutique atmosphere, further demonstrating the JLSLC commitment to respect and dignity for our sisters seeking clothing.
I had many great experiences in The League and developed life-long friendships during my time as an active member. My greatest joy is the opportunity to be at the forefront of a continuum of women (and men) who have built WHW into the known and reliable resource it is today. It is one of the things that makes League membership truly unique from other experiences and so valuable in my life journey.
When I look back to that first proposal, I wonder why we tried so hard and why it was personally so important to me that WHW be given a chance that spring. At the risk of oversharing, there is a backstory that, in the following years, I became more aware of than I was at the time. You see, in September 1996, I gave birth to a stillborn daughter, my first child. I was barely into my third trimester, and many League members probably didn’t even know I was pregnant. The Community Research & Project Development Committee and our work together was great support for me. But that fall and into the next year, I was so adrift. I functioned in my professional job and stayed active in the community, but as a mother, without a child, I carried so much pain that I didn’t know what to do with it. Years later, I realized that the birth of WHW became a place and a cause that all that loss and grief could be directed. At a personal level, WHW is a demonstration of what can come from incomprehensible pain and loss. I am grateful for and proud of that every time I drive by headquarters. In subsequent years, I completed a volunteer shift with another daughter, born later, counting and organizing clothing items, and the healing wasn’t lost on me.
We are living in a season of uncertainty, confusion, pain, and loss. I’m not sure how the pandemic has impacted WHW, and I can only imagine how it impacts our sisters that the closet serves. What I do know is that remarkable, long-lasting, and impactful things can emerge from times like ours if only we are willing to take a risk.
