With garments on the brain, Johnson — a slightly weathered, but sturdy-looking middle-aged woman — traveled to a brightly lit midtown Manhattan boutique in hopes of finding the outfit that would make her new boss’s eyes sparkle.

As she waded through the sea of separates, she gingerly selected tasteful pieces with high-end labels: DKNY, Versace and Max Mara. She tried on a black tailored blouse, pausing to ask if it looked too tight in the bust, and inspected herself in the full-length mirror. For a brief instant, she let a thin grin  spread across her face.

“I thinks it’s fine,” Johnson said. “I’m satisfied.”

Johnson left with her arms full of three suits, a burgundy dress, a pair of peep-toe heels, and a floral handbag. The cost to her: $0, courtesy of Bottomless Closet.

Bottomless Closet is a non-profit organization that helps disadvantaged women in New York and other cities with interview skills, career development and, most importantly, clothes.

After being referred to Bottomless Closet by another agency — one can only get in on referral — women are provided with two complete professional outfits from their gently used clothing racks. They are also given one-on-one career counseling and go through a mock interview before heading out into the job market.

“Lives get derailed and this is place where [our clients] can get back on track,” said Marian Rivman, PR director for Bottomless Closet.

Bottomless Closet has been aiding Manhattan women since 1999. Once a woman gets a job, she is eligible to come back to Bottomless Closet to select three more complete outfits. She also receives “points,” the currency of the organization, garnered by attending Bottomless Closet’s professional enrichment seminars. Each point is worth another article of clothing.

As such, they are of more value during the Recession. “That’s the advantage of being a decade old,” Rivman said. “This is a rooted non –profit within this community.”

The timing couldn’t have been better for Johnson. She lost her job a month ago when her brother’s furniture store lost their lease. She had been looking for other jobs since getting the news, and  was just hired as an undercover shopper in a department store.

Kendall Farrell, Executive Director of Bottomless Closet, has seen this story over and over again in recent months. She oversees the small staff of Bottomless Closet and  coordinates with the roughly 200 active volunteers.

Many of the volunteers are in the same position as many of the clients during the economic downturn.

“We’re definitely seeing more volunteers coming through the doors who maybe have been laid off and have a little bit of time on their hands,” Farrell said.

She said that many of the volunteers are in an economic bracket that they normally wouldn’t see.
One volunteer, who did not give her name, was recently laid off from the New York Daily News.

Bottomless Closet is also seeing less of the typical client.

“We thought that with the recession that we would be seeing more clients,” she said. “It turns out that because many companies have hiring freezes right now that people aren’t interviewing. Because many companies aren’t interviewing, we’re not getting as many referrals.”

That’s not to say that they aren’t still seeing clients. They catered to nearly 1,600 women in 2008 and they expect to serve the same amount this year.

“We’ve had an increase since we started,” Farrell said.

Before the Recession, Bottomless Closet catered largely to women on public assistance or with criminal histories.

“We’ve typically received referrals from job developers throughout the city from women that are on public assistance and going off of welfare and back into the workforce,” Rivman said.

Now they are seeing more referrals for educated women that have either been laid off or can’t find work.

“The diversity of the clients we see are really wide-range,” Farrell said. “We’ll have women coming in who have a college degree of higher. We also see women who’s education is less than high school.”

This is partially because companies are requesting more experience and a higher quality of applicants for those jobs they’re interviewing for. As a result, Bottomless Closet is looking to shift the way clients enter the program. They want to help women without job interviews — the first criteria needed to receive a reference to Bottomless Closet — work on the skills necessary to land an interview.

“With this new program it wouldn’t be women coming for clothing, but more for services on how to get a job,” Farrell said. “Clothing would be the incentive.”

As the recession continues, people are starting to get more conservative with their donations, which is how Bottomless Closet survives. But Farrell is optimistic. She’s seen people hard on their luck get jobs — they have a 40 percent job placement rate — soon after visiting the Bottomless Closet boutique, and she thinks that success will keep the agency active much longer.

“Just seeing the women that come in and really the transformation that they make,” Farrell said. “Literally within a half hour of having a volunteer dress them, they’ll flaunt themselves around the office. Their self-confidence is through the roof.”

Johnson proves her right. Back in one of the interview rooms, she is poring over her new wares — visibly excited, almost shaking with anticipation. Knowing about Bottomless Closet makes Johnson want to go to work.

“It makes you feel more secure,” she said. “You don’t have to worry about not having nothing.”

And Johnson thinks other people she knows could benefits from a trip to boutique.

“A lot of people, their whole excuse [to not work]  is ‘I don’t have nothing to wear,’” she said. “With this agency  You don’t have to worry about not having nothing. It’s good to have someone that goes to help you.”

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Housing Works is a nonprofit working with HIV/AIDS patients in New York City

Diana Scholl is riding a bull in a bear economy.

Scholl, an officer for Housing Works — a New York City nonprofit that helps provide housing for uninsured HIV/AIDS patients — has seen her organization’s income increase during the economic crisis.

Despite budget cuts, sales from their community-stocked thrift stores and book stores have increased 10 percent in the last quarter.

“We’ve almost benefited from the economic downturn in a weird way because more people are going to thrift stores,” she said. “Twenty-five percent of our money comes from our social entrepreneur organization, which is our thrift stores and our book stores.”

Housing Works is one of many nonprofit organizations for HIV/AIDS care around the country that are managing to tentatively ride out the economic crisis before the arrival of the economic stimulus package. Their second-hand bookstore in New York City’s SoHo area is a hot draw for lovers of inexpensive literature and has served as their own mini-bailout.

But Housing Works — like many other nonprofits — is eyeing the economic stimulus funds from Washington anyway. They have submitted proposals for federal stimulus funds and have also asked the state to buy foreclosed homes and then sell them to Housing Works at a lower price.

“It would be a good use of the federal stimulus,” Scholl said. “It would be a great way to use money and benefit poor people.”

Amy McMahon, CEO of STOP AIDS, a non-profit organization in Cincinnati, Ohio that supplies the community with education and testing about HIV/AIDS, is also not seeing red from the financial crisis yet.

But she is also looking for the stimulus to help her avoid a financial dip. She’s thankful that the first round of stimulus funds were distributed in the form of Medicaid.

“Most of those dollars are going to go into programs that sort of shore up people’s basic needs,” McMahon said.

STOP AIDS receives money from fundraising dollars, state and local grants, and through the Ryan White Care and Modernization Act — the federal program that allows HIV/AIDS patients who make up to $52,000 a year to receive additional funds for medication and health care.

“It’s looking like the money that’s coming into to state from the Ryan White Fund [and other payment methods] is pretty steady,” McMahon said.

But McMahon looks forward to staying in business should she need to tap those funds later.

“I think, especially for our clients here in Ohio, the assistance that people need for things like medication when they lose their jobs, the [stimulus] guidelines are broad enough … their meds can still be covered,” she said.

Ernest Hopkins, Director of Federal Affairs for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, is looking forward to the immediate impact that stimulus funds will have on HIV/AIDS organizations in California. He thinks the stimulus will bring his organization good fortune, and “should have a very positive impact .”

“A number of the components in the stimulus package are designed to front load a number of key components … to reform the healthcare system,” Hopkins said.

One of the features of the stimulus that will keep the San Francisco AIDS Foundation afloat will be the increased federal match to the Medicaid program for the state.

The California State Legislature had proposed stiff restrictions earlier this year on healthcare access as a result of the state deficit. Before the stimulus funds, California has a deficit of nearly $40 billion dollars.

But now, restrictions to medical care are expected to be lifted and care perhaps expanded to more HIV-positive Californians.

“That will have a significant impact,” Hopkins said.

Stimulus dollars will also affect AIDS research in the Golden State. California is a hub for HIV research in the U.S.

“Much of the money is hopefully going to be targeted,” Hopkins said of the funds, including a proposed $10 billion towards the National Institute of Health.

However, a shifting of economic plates could create financial faults for non-profits if the financial crisis worsens. McMahon worries that if more people in Cincinnati lose their jobs that resources for STOP AIDS will be stretched too far.

“If we see a larger influx of clients into our organization who are already HIV positive, then absolutely we may need to be able to beef some [money] up,” McMahon said. “What I would expect that we might start to see is where Medicaid can’t help. … That’s when I could see thing stating to change.”

Scholl is also worried that if the nation’s finances are further limited, Housing Works will suffer.

“We’re waiting on payments from the federal government” Scholl said. “Our credit line has been cut, so there are ways that we definitely are struggling.”Stimulus Boost for AIDS Organizations

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Andrew, a graphic designer from Brooklyn, recently had a few thousands dollars put into his mouth.

Two root canals, six fillings and two crowns at  his last dental visit, Andrew, who did not want to give his last name, is in the hole to the tune of over $8,000 in dental bills.

“I’m still waiting to hear back from my insurance company to see how much of that they’re going to cover, but it’s probably not even going to be a third of [the cost,]” he said.

The root cause of his fractured teeth is the recession.

Stress is messing up his mouth. As the Recession drags on, many more people are seeing dentists for stress-related tooth injuries.

“I work in advertising and my whole life is stress,” he said.

Andrew has been aware of a lot of teeth grinding and jaw clenching while on the job.

“They place an extreme amount of work on my back and my department is very small. I typically work 10 hour days,” he said
“I already blew through my dental [deductable] for the year, so I’m going to have to wait for my insurance to reset next year or change jobs. ”

The dental industry’s profits rose nearly 1.5 percent from 2007.  Dentistry had higher profits than any other industry in 2008, according to Sageworks, a firm that tracks financial performance.

While stress-related dental injuries aren’t stated at the direct cause of dentistry’s financial upswing, many more dentists,  like Dr. Edward Gottesman D.D.S., have been seeing more clients with the same problems as Christien since the financial crisis began.

“A lot of my patients have been cracking their teeth and having to have their teeth removed for… implants,” Gottesman said. “It may be that because of the recession and because of this stressful time people are crunching and grinding their teeth more and that’s probably lending itself to more fractured teeth.”

Gottesman notes that recently he’s been prescribing more night guards –mouth pieces worn at night to prevent tooth grinding– and relates it to the recessed economy.

“My schedule is more full,” Gottesman said. “My practice has certainly grown this year as opposed to last year and I think that fewer businesses can say that than most.”

Gottesman has also seen some of his recently layed-off clients coming capitalize on their dental insurance before it expires.  Dental benefits –depending on the employers—often last for a few months after a layoff.

Not all dentists are convinced of dentistry’s immunity to economic woes. Dr. Nick M. Mobilia of Elite Dental Arts in Manhattan believes all businesses are suffering as a result of the recession, including dentistry, He has seen evidence of the economic collapse firsthand because many of his patients had worked on Wall Street.

However, Mobilia is using the recession to attract clients with innovative technologies and services. “You have to distinguish yourself from other practices and other businesses,” Mobilia said.

He’s been reducing costs, increasing efficiency and using Botox in creative ways.

“I have a lot of patients who have… a lot of stress so I use Botox in conjunction with my TMJ treatments” Mobilia said.
“Basically Botox is a muscle relaxer so it helps the muscles relax.”

“A lot of our patients do work in the financial markets so they’re undergoing a lot of stress,” he said.

Injecting Botox into the muscles around the joints of the mouth to help reduce pain from TMJ, soreness in the joints of the jaw that result from clenching muscles. TMJ is another common side effect of oral stress during a recession.

“[Botox] happens to be a very, very great modality to treat theses kinds of problems,” Mobilia said.

But some dentists are also seeing an economic slowdown based on their specialty.

“Dentistry I don’t think is immune to anything that’s going right now,” said Dr. John Koutsoyiannis  of Soho Smiles who specializes in cosmetic dentistry. “We may be more resilient than a lot of other professions, but it’s only because part of what we do is need-based.”

It’s the other part that isn’t need-based –the elective or cosmetic procedures– that are causing financial woes among some dentists. Elective procedures –such as teeth whitening and implants– are being performed in fewer numbers and dentists like Koutsoyiannis are starting to feel the crunch.

“More than half of my procedures are elective,” he said.

While Koutsoyiannis is hopeful the market might be turning around now, it’s been difficult for Soho Smiles. Many of his patients –including the more affluent ones– have been scheduling fewer appointments.

“I noticed an alarming amount of people pulling out or delaying their treatment,” Koutsoyiannis said.

This is not only bad for Soho Smiles’ business, but potentially risky for their patients mouths. Delaying oral treatment –especially for something as common during a recession as a chipped fractured tooth—can result in tooth breakage, loss of enamel, or the loss of the tooth itself and can cost much more once the damage is done.

“I’ve seen people delay necessary stuff and that’s not good because that can work itself into a larger problem in the future,” Koutsoyiannis said.

“When there’s a slowdown economically, dentists tend to want to learn about more technologies and more new materials that they can bring into their practice to offer patients more,” he said,

Edwab also believes the positive trend is a reflection of the industry’s strength during an economic crisis. He does acknowledge that many people are holding off on big-ticket cosmetic and less immediate procedures, but he doesn’t see a downturn in the industry as a whole.

“People still have emergencies,” Edwab said. “If you have to have a wisdom tooth out, you’ll have the one taken out that was bothering you, [but] you might not do the other ones.”

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