Kristiina Miller didn’t get to partake in many of the same quintessential coming-of-age traditions as her peers, including selecting a dress to wear to the homecoming dance.
After a few years spent homeless and couch-surfing, Miller entered the foster-care system at age 15.
Though foster families did their best to provide for Miller, each home placement was but a temporary stop, and finding a job or making friends was exponentially harder for a teen with no permanent home.
“You can’t put your roots down anywhere,” Miller explained.
And affording items like formal-wear was simply not possible.
For the past four years, Miller and fellow Garage of Blessings volunteers have ensured that hundreds of Whidbey Island teens are able to attend homecoming and prom in style, at no cost.
The Garage of Blessings collects donations of formal-wear throughout the year, including jewelry, shoes and hundreds of dresses, setting these aside until just before homecoming in the fall and prom in the spring.
On Tuesday evening, dozens of teens and their parents gathered at the packed Garage of Blessings to select from an array of homecoming accoutrement in every color and style imaginable.
In a way, Miller said, she is able to be a part of every student’s experience by giving them the experience she never had.
“I am so glad that I was stuck in the sorting room the whole time,” Miller said tearfully. “If I would have seen some of these girls coming out and trying on dresses and showing their moms, I would have lost it … I would have been a mess.”
“I didn’t get that growing up, I didn’t get that at all,” she added. “It’s so heart-filling to be able to do that for so many girls who would never be able to afford a dress on their own.”
All of the dresses were donated by community members, Miller said. In the weeks before the biannual special occasions, Miller puts out a call online, and the community is always quick to respond.
“The community believes in what we’re doing,” she said.
For Janetta King and her daughter, Samantha, the Garage’s giveaway is indeed a blessing.
“It makes it so much easier,” said Janetta King.
The Kings, like many families, live on a fixed income, with Janetta receiving a limited sum from Social Security Disability. Paying $150 or more for a standard homecoming dress would take a significant chunk out of their household budget.
According to a reader poll conducted by Seventeen magazine, the typical price for a formal dress was around $231 in 2012, with shoes and a handbag adding on another $45 and $23 on average, respectively.
The average total cost of attending prom, according to a nationwide survey conducted by Visa in 2014, was $978.
Samantha King, a student at Oak Harbor High School, came to the Garage with her best friend, Jackie Coen. The pair will attend homecoming for the first time this year.
“It’s really great,” Samantha King said.
Coen agreed, and said she wouldn’t have gone to the dance if not for the Garage’s giveaway.
Neither was looking for anything specific as they sifted through the racks of dresses in colors ranging from jewel-tone to pastel and styles from mermaid to A-line — “just something simple and pretty,” Samantha King said.
“Something that doesn’t take too much work.”
By 6 p.m., each of the girls had selected a prospective winner for try-on. Emerging from the dressing room, Coen and Samantha King each sported ecstatic grins paired perfectly with their chosen dresses and matching shoes.
“It’s amazing, the best idea ever,” said Shaeley Finch, who came to the Garage with her sisters Stephanie and Shannon.
“I think it’s awesome,” said Shannon Finch.
Miller estimates that about 25 dresses were given away Tuesday evening, and expects each day leading up to the dance — Oct. 17 for OHHS — to be equally busy.
“It was incredible,” she said.
Garage of Blessings accepts donations of clothing, books, household items, toiletries, bottled water, blankets and more. Furniture donations can also be arranged by calling the Garage at 360-679-1239. or visiting the nonprofit’s Facebook page.
