LA’s Prom Closet: Local Nonprofit Puts Big Night Within Reach for Local High School Students

The beautiful Dominguez Ballroom in the Loker Student Union at California State University, Dominguez Hills recently served as the backdrop for female students from local high schools to prepare for that all important milestone, the prom. On March 14, the CSU Dominguez Hills’ Women’s Resource Center, in partnership with Hawthorne-based nonprofit LA’s Prom Closet, played fairy godmother at the “Dress to Remember” event.

Ninety students were outfitted with a dress, shoes, jewelry and accessories, all donated by the community. Volunteers assisted the girls with their “shopping,” and representatives from salons and counseling services provided grooming and etiquette demonstrations. Still more volunteers with sewing skills altered the dresses and gowns to fit on the spot.

Ivonne Heinze-Balcazar, Women’s Resource Center director and coordinator of the women’s studies program at Dominguez Hills, had heard of LA’s Prom Closet through students in the university’s Phi Sigma Sigma chapter and together they encouraged the campus community to donate new and used formal dresses to the cause, resulting in a collection of 35 dresses. The associate professor of modern languages decided that offering the student union as a venue for this year’s “Dress to Remember” event would be an opportunity to support the community while also allowing high school students to visit a college campus.

“One of the missions of the Women’s Resource Center is to advocate for young women to become college students,” said Heinze-Balcazar, who by noon that day, had spoken to several CSU Dominguez Hills-bound students and consulted with her staff to see that their applications to the university will be processed as efficiently as possible. “This is a great event for us to liaison with the community on behalf of young women who can’t afford to buy their prom dresses. The Women’s Resource Center wants to encourage young women to go into higher education and understands that this event is an educational and recruitment opportunity for CSU Dominguez Hills.”

Graduating high school seniors from 20 area schools including Hawthorne High School, Dominguez High School, Wilson High School and the California Academy of Math and Science (which is located on the CSU Dominguez Hills campus), were referred to LA’s Prom Closet program by their teachers and counselors. While the students were not required to prove financial hardship, a large percentage of them were from low-income families, homeless shelters, or in foster care.

Natalie Torres, the organization’s founder and president, immigrated to the United States with her parents and grew up in Lennox, Calif. She was inspired by her family’s commitment to building a good life in their new home regardless of the difficulty – and the recognition that there is always someone who has even less.

“We all may struggle but there are others who struggle more and we can always help,” she says. “The feedback we get from the students reminds us why we do this. They are all extraordinary women with so much potential and it shows in their responses. One student told me that if she [wasn’t chosen] to get a dress that would be OK. She said, ‘Now I know of LA’s Prom Closet and I can help other girls apply who may need it more.”

For more information on the Women’s Resource Center at CSU Dominguez Hills, contact Dr. Heinze-Balcazar at (310) 243-2486.

- Joanie Harmon

Photo above: Fairy godmothers from LA's Prom Closet help a local high school student find the dream dress. L-R: Ashley Barbone, volunteer; Tiara Sparkle Morrison, senior, California Academy of Math and Science; and Natalie Torres, founder and president, LA's Prom Closet

Photo by Joanie Harmon