For a Good Cause -- Joanne Larson

Story by Lolita Harper

Women love to shop. And those who have been through devastating life

experiences should not be the exception, Joanne Larson said.

That is why the Newport Beach resident volunteers her time at Classy

Seconds in Costa Mesa. The secondhand clothing store on 17th Street

offers affordable clothing to women and children who have been abused.

“Battered women have lost enough dignity from the abuse they’ve

suffered without being reduced to sift through bags of donated clothes,

trying to find an outfit that is in good enough condition,” Larson said.

The 69-year-old does the grunt work for them so they can have a

conventional shopping experience. She sorts through the donated clothes,

discarding items that are torn, stained or missing buttons.

Classy Seconds primarily serves as a closet for women from Human

Options, an organization determined to stop the cycle of domestic

violence. Human Options runs a shelter and long-term housing in Orange

County. Both locations are undisclosed to protect the women and children

from their former abusers.

Many of the shelter’s residents come in when they need an outfit for a

job interview, or for career wear.

“It is very exciting when someone comes in and says, ‘I need new

clothes for a job,”’ Larson said.

Larson said she got involved with Human Options after a teaching

career in which she saw too many abused children and women.

“I decided I wanted to do something about it when I retired,” she

said.

Although it was created to serve needy women, the store gets customers

from all economic levels, she said. Many of the donated clothes are brand

names that are a little outdated or simply don’t fit their previous

owners. These slightly used garments are then sold at a fraction of their

retail cost at Classy Seconds and, therefore, many Newport-Mesa residents

shop there because of the great bargains. All money raised goes directly

to Human Options.

“Don’t think that some of these battered women weren’t accustomed to

high-end clothes before they came to the shelter,” Larson warns.

Domestic violence knows no economic boundaries, she said.