Joyner Fine Properties agent Sue Farrell started nonprofit Boots to Suits in 2014. (Photo courtesy NAR)
In the 12 years since Sue Farrell started Boots to Suits, the local nonprofit she launched in honor of her late husband, the longtime Richmond real estate agent has helped thousands of military veterans dress to impress as they enter civilian life and look to compete in the corporate job market.
Those efforts earned Farrell recognition this week from the National Association of Realtors, who named her one of five recipients across the country of its annual Good Neighbor Awards recognizing member agents’ charitable work that impacts their communities.
The recognition, which NAR announced Tuesday, includes a $10,000 grant for Boots to Suits, which Farrell, a 24-year agent with local brokerage Joyner Fine Properties, runs out of a small West End office with a team of volunteers and a now-steady stream of donated suits and other professional apparel.
The nonprofit provides suits for both women and men veterans. (Courtesy Boots to Suits)
Farrell said the funds will be used to buy suits in different sizes than those that come in through donations. The recognition also gives Boots to Suits broader exposure, which Farrell said will help the nonprofit.
“I’m very touched by it and humbled by the whole process,” said Farrell, who was one of 10 finalists for the awards and is the first winner from Central Virginia in their 27-year history. A Joyner colleague nominated Farrell for the award, which NAR said are selected by a multistage, criteria-based judging process.
Farrell started Boots to Suits in 2014 in memory of her late husband, Joe Farrell, who served as a U.S. Navy submarine commander and was later chairman and CEO of The Pittston Co., now known as locally based armored car giant The Brink’s Co.
Left with a walk-in closet’s worth of Joe’s executive-quality suits, Sue set out to put them to further use and hatched the idea for Boots to Suits, providing complimentary work apparel for men and women veterans entering the corporate world and in need of professional clothes for job interviews.
What started with 300 suits, between what came out of Joe’s closet and others donated by his golf buddies, many of whom Sue said were also ex-military, has now outfitted 7,000 vets from multiple states, with about 1,000 now fitted annually who hail from Florida, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia.
Volunteer stylists and tailors work with each vet to put together and customize at least two complete outfits, including shoes, belts, ties and other accessories. Clients are pointed to Boots to Suits through Farrell’s connections with veteran groups such as the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Transition Assistance Program and the Servicemember Transitional Advanced Rehabilitation Program at the Richmond VA Medical Center.
For many of the longer-serving vets, Farrell noted it can be their first time wearing clothes that weren’t government-issued. She said some are also dealing with brain injuries or lost limbs from combat, with more need for tailoring around prosthetics.
“We see a variety of situations with these guys that really makes you appreciate what they’ve done for us their entire careers,” Farrell said. “Most of them are 20-year-plus military, and it’s very touching for us to be able to put some great apparel on them and make them look like a million bucks.”
Farrell spends 20 to 25 hours a week leading Boots to Suits from its office in the Hamilton Professional Building at Hamilton Street and Patterson Avenue. That’s on top of her day job as an agent with Joyner, where many of her real estate deals land in the multimillion-dollar range – including her and Joe’s former home that she sold a decade ago.
“It is challenging wearing two hats, but I love both,” Farrell said, adding that the real estate community played an integral part in helping her get Boots to Suits off the ground.
Farrell, left, with location manager Mary Abbitt. The nonprofit is in its 12th year. (Courtesy Boots to Suits)
“Not only coworkers at Joyner, but my other co-Realtors in the community really got my feet wet in the whole project,” she said. “I reached out to them when I first started, and we were just as green as a Granny Smith apple. Nobody even was aware that the service was available.
“Reaching out to the real estate community, they responded immediately and very graciously with beautiful apparel, but also with their checkbooks, which really set us in motion to be able to provide the services that we did,” Farrell said.
Farrell’s work with Boots to Suits has in turn benefited the real estate community and Joyner Fine Properties, said John Stone, the brokerage’s president.
“Boots to Suits is a remarkable organization, and the fact that Sue built it from the ground up – honoring her late husband’s memory while giving back to the veterans who have served our country – speaks volumes about her character,” Stone said in a prepared statement.
“As a fellow veteran, this mission resonates with me deeply. Ensuring help is available to veterans returning to civilian life is a meaningful way to stand beside those who served our nation, offering connection and resources as they begin a new chapter in their lives,” Stone said. “Receiving the NAR Good Neighbor Award is a tremendous honor, and we’re so proud to see Sue recognized for service to our community that reaches far beyond her profession.”
Farrell and her four co-winners – agents from Arizona, Mississippi, Nebraska and Texas – will receive their awards and $10,000 grants at NAR’s NXT Conference in New Orleans in November.
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