JBLM program helps service members dress to impress

Suits for Service Members was established at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in 2011 by the late Mary Findlay, who was a former Army spouse, and who was inducted into the JBLM Civilian Hall of Fame in 2019 for her work with the program.

“She saw a need with the service members she worked with,” said Suits for Service Members Director Paige Dahlke. “As they were leaving military service, they struggled to dress themselves, because they had been wearing uniforms their entire careers.”

The program provides two complementary suits for service members who are within six months from transitioning from the military to civilian employment. All branches of the military qualify, including the Guard and Reserve members on active-duty orders.

Findlay began with helping service members out of her own home, but when the program grew, it was relocated to the Steilacoom Town Hall until Findlay’s death in 2018. In 2019, the program, in partnership with the Association of the United States Army, found its new home at the America's Credit Union on JBLM.