Giving back to the Community: Princess Closet in Pilsen

A bodice of sequins shines on the dance floor. A skirt of tulle reminiscent of a ballerina. Many young girls throughout the city spend years envisioning their dream dresses. For most, high school prom is their first opportunity to bring these glitter and chiffon fantasies to life. However, some girls face financial limitations beyond their control that hinder their ability to attain such dresses. Princess Closet, an organization based in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood under the ministry of St. Pius Church works to provide those in need with a beautiful prom dress.

Founder Maria Davalos started Princess Closet when her daughter and a friend faced limited resources in the search for their prom dresses. As a mother, Davalos could not bear the fact that an unfortunate economic situation prevented her daughter from attaining a prom dress. Davalos then created The Princess Closet in hopes that the people of her community would donate dresses and give back to other economically disadvantaged teens.

Since that pioneer moment, The Princess Closet has grown into a non-profit organization that gives back to the community in many ways. Besides collecting and donating dresses to teens in need, Princess Closet also works with various salons and boutiques throughout the city to collect cosmetics, shoes, purses, and accessories to accompany dress donations. The members of Princess Closet also host fashion shows, as well as hair and make-up instruction workshops, all with the goal to provide participating youth with a positive self-image. The organization encourages other teens to become involved through its Student Helping Students campaign, in which Chicagoland high school students host dress drives and fundraisers within their own schools.

While this year's prom season is a few months behind us, the Princess Closet team is already hard at work to ensure that all those attending 2011's prom go wearing the dress of their dreams. As of date, the Princess closet still stands more than 800 dresses short of its 2011 goal of 1,000 dresses. This goal cannot be achieved without your help. To learn how you can donate a dress or become involved in other ways, visit princess-closet.org. Make dreams come true!