ROGERS, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Rachel Cox has seen women transform in front of her eyes.

“Clothing items, handbags, shoes, and jewelry,” Cox said. “We give them everything they need to feel successful and confident when they walk in.”

She’s helping them feel confident while they learn how to be financially independent.

“We work with individuals who may be unemployed, maybe they lost their job, maybe they are fleeing a domestic violence situation,” Cox said. They’re taught skills like how to land a job and how to keep one.

“It’s about making sure everyone feels respected and they are treated with dignity,” Cox said. That hits home for her.

“There was a time where I didn’t feel very remarkable as a young adult,” Cox said.

She says she was once the person needing help from her community as a young, single mother.

“It was important to me though that when having my son, I did everything I could to be the best mom and human being I could be for him,” Cox said.

The best mom for him and later, her six other children. She adopted four of them while working with a non-profit that helps teens in the foster care system.

“My kids were children who had been through a lot but they are now adults who are resilient and confident and strong and making a difference in the community,” Cox said.

They’re inspired by her as she continues to help people who may share a similar life story.

“I got started because I had a non-traditional upbringing and saw the hard things my mom, who’s a single parent, had to go through and my grandparents who had a huge hand in raising me,” Cox said.

Cox is someone who is making a difference in her community, as a mother, and as executive director and CEO of Dress for Success.

“To me, that is life-changing,” Cox said. “You are offering someone the opportunity to take care of themselves and their children by giving them skills and education and just support that they may never have anywhere else in their life.”

She’s hoping to inspire others to give back to the community that helped raise them.

You can learn how to donate or volunteer for Dress for Success online.