A New York University student’s $5,000 inheritance 15 years ago will have an impact on disadvantaged women in Greater Des Moines.

Nancy Lublin, then a law student, used the money to start Dress for Success, an organization that provides clothing for women who are about to have their first job interview. Since 1996, Dress for Success has become an international organization with 105 affiliates.

Jody White is the co-founder of Dress for Success Des Moines, which was slated to open on June 16 at 319 Seventh St., Suite 320.

White teamed with seven other Greater Des Moines women to launch Dress for Success Des Moines. What they have created is a multi-service, one-stop destination where women are outfitted for their first job interview, given a week’s worth of business-appropriate attire when they land the job and offered life-skills coaching in areas such as opening a bank account and renting an apartment.

In addition, clients are placed under something of a microscope, with White and her partners observing personal details such as whether the woman’s fingernails are neat and trim. And they want to make sure clients are on time.

The nine-room office includes a career center equipped with computers and fax machines. It even has a vault of accessories, including belts, bags, scarves and jewelry.

Women are referred by other nonprofits.

A session at Dress for Success Des Moines is by appointment only, and it is a personalized meeting, with business suits arranged by a woman’s size – supplied by the referring organization.

There is no shortage of clothing. The DressBarn Inc. “kick-started our little campaign” by donating 150 business suits, White said. A woman from Delaware sent boxes of clothing and promised more.

White and her team have spent a little more than a month brightening up what was otherwise an “industrial-looking” office space with a treatment of bright yellow paint.

“We wanted to create an environment that was warm and inviting,” White said.