Queen for a Day, Skills for Life

On Monday, 100 women will walk the red carpet at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Lynnwood. Among the cheering crowds lining the carpet, men from the Navy and police and fire forces will escort the women as they enter the hotel.

These red-carpet walkers aren’t famous actresses or television celebrities. They aren’t senators or political dignitaries. They are forgotten women from the community, many of whom are caught in the cycle of abuse and homelessness, endlessly shuffling from one shelter to another.

This grand procession is the start of a two-day event hosted by the Queen, it’s a New Day organization, a nonprofit that seeks to empower women from the inside out, giving them full makeovers, new work clothes and inspirational workshops.

“Queen, It’s a New Day is designed to stop abuse by giving women a hand up in showing them their worth,” explained Judy Hoff, founder and executive director of the program. “The goal is when you change one woman, you change generations.”

Hoff, who has a background in counseling, including chemical dependency counseling, started Queen 11 years ago when she witnessed abused women unable to get their lives on a new, productive track.

“I saw women and their children in the same patterns of abuse,” she said. “They would go from shelters to rehab centers, to the streets and back to jail. It was the same cycle over and over again, and they were dragging their little kids with them. I didn’t see any change in what was available for the women. There wasn’t anything to help them.”

Hoff has worked with such marginalized people for years, and she decided that something needed to change. After much prayer, she decided that what needed to change was the mindset of the women. The change had to come from within.

“If you think it’s going to be a crappy day, then it will be a crappy day,” she said. “If you think you’re a loser and deserve to be beat, then you aren’t going to do anything to stop it from happening. To break the cycle, you have to break the mindset.”

To do that, Hoff and a team of volunteers turn the women attending the two-day makeover into queens for a day. The women are chosen from various agencies and shelters around Western Washington.

After being escorted up the red carpet to the hotel, the women are shown their rooms and taken to the Royal Queen’s Closet, which is full of donated clothing, shoes, purses and accessories, many of which are designer brand labels. The women are allowed to pick out a new work outfit to get them ready to go out and hunt for jobs.

“We just give everything all away,” Hoff said enthusiastically. “They have this huge radical makeover. At lunchtime they have speakers that have graduated from Queen who have gone on establish very productive, worthwhile lives."

In the evening, the women are taken in limos to a gala where there are inspirational speakers. Each of the woman is presented a rose as she walks across the stage to show off her makeover. This year, Kevin Hall, the author of the book Aspire, will be the keynote speaker. Stephanie Wright of the Snohomish County Council, Miss Washington, Sultan Mayor Carolyn Eslick and Miss U.S. Globe are some of the big names set to attend the event. 

The second day of the event consists of a career fair and a formal graduation. Hoff said the queens leave the event empowered and with the tools they need to seek and gain employment, stay out of jail and love themselves enough to break the cycle of abuse, not only for them, but also for their children.

“It’s not what I do, it’s the outcome of what I do that’s what drives me,” Hoff said emphatically. “I see the outcome as powerful; so many people’s lives are changed. It saves the community money—these women aren’t going back to jail or hospitals or rehab. They get their kids back … they get their lives back.” 

If you are interested in donating time or services for the event, or would like to sponsor a Queen, visit the organization’s website.