Spokane’s Recovery Café didn’t look like itself when “Breast Intentions” borrowed the space for a bra fitting session for women in need.
Usually, the Recovery Café is a place to visit with a recovery coach, connect with services or just have a cup of coffee and spend a moment to recharge.
But on the evening of April 20 it looked more like the women’s undergarment section of a department store: it was overflowing with racks of bras.
Spokane-based Breast Intentions provides women in need with a bra that fits, and the nonprofit and its volunteers teamed up with the Recovery Café to host an event for the evening.
About 60 percent of all women wear the wrong size bra, and women in recovery often have limited resources to be professionally fitted and purchase an expensive piece of underwear that’s essential to their well-being.
Breast Intentions believe that “with a properly fitted bra, women see themselves in a different light – more self-assured and empowered.”
That was very obvious that evening, said Michelle Walsh who volunteered to help attendees who were first measured and then fit with into bras.
Walsh said the women she helped were “surprised that they found a bra that fit” and also “grateful and thankful.”
This is the first time the Recovery Café has hosted a bra fitting and the café was packed. A total of 34 women were there and each left with at least two new bras, plus an intimates bag to put them in for washing.
The event would not have been possible without volunteers from Kohl’s Department Store who donated their personal time to help. “We are so grateful for the support of Kohl’s,” said Georgia Butler, Director of Recovery Café Spokane.
This was the first time Walsh, one of the Kohl’s volunteers, visited the café. Walsh said the event was “marvelous.” “We need to do more of these in Spokane,” Walsh said.
The bra event is just one of the many ways Recovery Café Spokane supports people in recovery. The café is located in Peaceful Valley, at 214 North Cedar Street, Spokane. The Recovery Café is a program of Community-Minded Enterprises.
A special thanks to Breast Intentions and the following volunteers from Kohl’s
- Kim Mackin
- Mary Mosher
- Angela Bell
- Amanda Barnhart
- Michelle Walsh
