Clutching her new clothes, Josie Cohen walked out onto the Melbourne street with her head held high.
Just an hour earlier, the homeless mum had arrived at the doors of the charity Fitted for Work, with her eyes fixed on the ground.
But after receiving an interview outfit, résumé help and a much-needed confidence boost, something had shifted.
“I walked out feeling like I was actually worth something,” Josie, 56, tells New Idea. “I thought, ‘I can do this.’”
Josie is telling her story now as part of Fitted for Work’s 2026 Love Letter to My Closet awareness-raising campaign.
The charity, which supports women into employment and financial independence, is running a campaign encouraging women to write a ‘love letter’ celebrating a treasured piece in their wardrobe and the story behind it.
“My nan raised me with the mantra, ‘Always be financially independent,’” says charity ambassador and TV presenter Catriona Rowntree.
“If my nan could teach me, I hope I can offer that support to other women.”
Catriona’s treasured piece is a blue Collette Dinnigan shirt she bought for her first Getaway photo shoot 30 years ago.
“Every closet has a story worth telling,” says Catriona. “Clothes can be a wonderful form of armour, self-expression and mood enhancement. When a woman can stand on her own two feet financially, we all win.”
It’s certainly how Josie feels after Fitted For Work helped her turnaround her life after years spent simply surviving.
Moving to Australia 36 years ago, Josie had built a career in administration and accounts, married and had three sons.
But after 25 years together, the relationship broke down and in 2010, with no savings or house in her name, Josie was left with nothing.
With nowhere to take her teen boys, leaving them behind was heartbreaking.
After briefly staying with a friend, Josie began sleeping in her car, parking in parks, camping areas and outside friends’ homes.
Cleaning work paid for food and petrol, while public swimming pools provided showers.
“I was in survival mode,” she explains. “I couldn’t allow myself to feel frightened because [if I did] I didn’t know how I’d keep going.”
When her leased car was taken away, Josie couch-surfed, scrimping whatever she could to take her sons for a budget lunch.
Her self-esteem plummeted. For years, Josie was in an incredibly dark place.
“I kept going for my boys,” she says.
In 2016, a social worker suggested Fitted for Work, a not-for-profit steering women and gender-diverse jobseekers towards employment and financial independence.
“I felt ashamed and hopeless,” Josie admits. “Even going into Melbourne and seeing everyone dressed beautifully for work made me feel worthless.”
Still craving support and “some warmth” in her life, she summoned the courage to walk through the organisation’s doors.
“I’ll never forget it,” she says. “There was so much compassion. I felt like the whole organisation had been built for me.”
Staff polished her résumé and dressed self-confessed tomboy Josie in navy pants, a colourful blouse and bright pink shoes.
“They were like a confidence-boosting machine,” she says with a smile.
Soon Josie was securing accounts and administration roles, before completing a community services diploma and discovering her true calling – helping vulnerable people.
She delivered rehabilitation programs to women in a maximum-security prison, including education about family violence.
Today, Josie does casual support work and, after years without a secure home, has achieved something once unimaginable –buying her own house in South Gippsland.
“It feels surreal,” she says. “I have my family back, I see my boys and I believe in myself. Fitted for Work gave me my life back. They gave me hope and the confidence to keep moving forward.”
“After everything I’ve been through, I can see the sun shining again and I want other women to know that no matter how dark life feels, they can too.”
