Although Kansas City’s Hope House and Overland Park’s clair de lune lingerie boutique each focus on increasing a woman’s self esteem, the reasons women seek them out couldn’t be more different. Last year Hope House served 10,000 victims of domestic violence in its two Kansas City-area shelters and Comprehensive Outreach Programming and clair de lune sold high-quality bras and lingerie to hundreds of women throughout the region.
Yet a successful nine-year alliance between Hope House and clair de lune brings the notion of helping women feel better about themselves full circle. Terry Levine, a Kansas City resident who founded clair de lune — which specializes in expert bra fitting — in October 2004, envisioned her business as an active community participant. Each year the boutique is involved in myriad breast cancer programs that help raise awareness on the importance of early detection and support women experiencing a breast cancer journey. Levine also wanted to include victims of domestic violence in her business mission statement and in January 2005 launched the Great Bra Exchange (GBE) in partnership with Hope House. The goal: to encourage clair de lune’s customers to donate gently used bras for Hope House and receive $15 off a new bra in return.
As a result of the GBE, clair de lune has donated 12,000 bras to help the women of Hope House — many who arrive at the shelters with little more than the clothes on their backs. This year’s event kicks off Jan. 10 and Levine anticipates her customers will again be generous with bra donations for Hope House, which in 2013 observes its 30th anniversary of serving the Kansas City area. This year clair de lune hopes to top the 3,000 gently worn bras donated by customers in 2012.
“I am humbled our loyal and new customers alike answer the call each year,” says Levine. “As a small business owner, I consider it a privilege to support an organization like Hope House that helps victims of domestic violence get back on their feet and break the cycle of abuse.”
The Great Bra Exchange campaign emphasizes “Exchange. Empower. Indulge.”
“It allows our customers to exchange gently used bras to help empower the women of Hope House while indulging in a new bra for themselves,” explains Levine. “We’ve even had customers buy new bras with the $15 offer and donate those to Hope House, too.”
MaryAnne Metheny, chief executive officer of Hope House since 1993, says one in four women will be victims of domestic violence in their lifetime. In addition, most women seen at Hope House start over with nothing. “Undergarments are an essential for a woman to feel ready to go out in the world — they are part of building self-esteem,” says Metheny. “The wonderful thing about the partnership with clair de lune is that we receive bras of all sizes to accommodate our clients’ various needs.”
Metheny says while a bra might be taken for granted in society, it’s often a luxury for women in a shelter. “The gently used bras we receive from the Great Bra Exchanges means our women have one less stressor in their lives while getting re-established.”
Levine and Metheny agree the Great Bra Exchange is one small but essential step to help victims of domestic violence achieve independence.
“To the women of Hope House, a bra represents another building block to help rebuild a sense of self beaten down in the cycle of abuse,” says Metheny.
The Great Bra Exchange at clair de lune ends Feb. 3. For more information or to donate gently used bras for Hope House, call 913-449-3232.