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Henry A. Davidsen founder Brian Lipstein displaying his goods. Photo by Christopher Wink

When Back on My Feet’s mission is working, our members need the occasional dress suit.

They develop a community of support during early morning runs. They develop goal setting skills. They take financial literacy courses and undertake education or training programs. Then our members earn jobs and leave their facilities.

Somewhere along the way or soon after, those members need a suit for an interview or an event or a work requirement.  Suits are something our members value, something tangible that marks their progress forward. Having a suit for a job interview shows what remarkable growth many have managed.

So, the recent charitable giving from high-end custom tailoring outfit Henry A. Davidsen goes a long way to helping our members take steps forward.

“We collected suits for men who were trying to get back on their feet, who don’t necessarily have the means and really need that final touch to walk into the interview with confidence,” Brian Lipstein, the founder of the sleek and stylish shop in the tony Rittenhouse Square neighborhood of Philadelphia. “We look forward to a continued partnership.”

We’ve had private donations before, most of which we share with our partners like EDSI Career Counseling and some of our partnering facilities.

But we’ve never received as large or as impressive a collection of suits as those donated by Lipstein.

Lipstein, who developed the shop’s concept while at Wharton and founded it in 2006, ran a holiday suit drive with his customers, who received a discounted rate on his merchandise if they donated a suit of their own. He gave many to MenzFit, a Philadelphia nonprofit that outfits people of lower income with professional clothes.

Overwhelmed by the response, Lipstein donated another 500 suits to Back on My Feet Philadelphia, whose staff lugged, pushed, pulled and carried them to a variety of its partners to share with its members and other people experiencing homelessness.

Lipstein and his clientele play such an important role in connecting our members with the goals they want to meet. Many thanks.

We filled a Lincoln Navigator with suits and then took a second trip with a Nissan XTerra. Below, a photo of only a portion of the suits landing at EDSI.