Hartsdale’s Girl AGain Trains Teens, Attracts Doll Lovers
A White Plains mother has taken her lifelong experiences from raising a daughter with autism and opened a store that helps train young adults for the workplace while raising awareness about the disorder.
Marjorie Madfis learned firsthand about the difficulties faced by those with autism from her daughter, Isabelle, and in recent years, she’s learned how hard it is for her 18-year-old daughter to land summer jobs and fit in at work.
Madfis created a nonprofit called Yes She Can Inc. last fall and opened a store called Girl AGain at 157 S. Central Ave., Hartsdale, in February. The nonprofit is dedicated to developing job skills and employment opportunities for young women with autism spectrum disorders.
Isabelle and other teens with autism were hired as interns to work at Girl AGain. They refurbish gently used American Girl dolls and help sell them at the retail store. Madfis said the girls learn valuable life and work skills while dealing with the public and co-workers, including sales, marketing, research, inventory, pricing and display.
As an only child, Isabelle grew to love American Girl dolls and knows everything about them. Ever since her 11th birthday, Isabelle has dreamed of work at an American Girl Doll store and working on doll hair. She’s among a dozen women with autism that have worked as interns in the 125-square-foot shop. Her mother is looking for larger retail space to broaden the mission. All the girls have a deep passion for the dolls, and Madfis said she tries to recreate the experience of working in an American Doll store.
Her nonprofit strives to help young women with autism gain employment and build careers in the competitive job market. It’s a daunting task given the fact that nearly 80 percent of young adults (ages 21 to 25) with autism are unemployed.
Pleasant Rowland, founder of American Girl, created the American Girl Collection featuring books about 10 year old girls in history. The first three dolls were Samantha, Molly and Felicity.
Customers, typically between the ages of 6 and 12, learn about autism through their interaction with the interns. Generally speaking, those with autism bring traits to the workplace that others may not have, including attention to detail, following rules, consistency, excelling at repetitive tasks, solving puzzles, commitment to completing a task, honesty and loyalty.
Madfis works with one or two young women at a time, teaching them how to price and display items. She also coaches them on how to talk appropriately with customers. Madfis said most people treat her daughter “as though she knows something about what they love.”
Madfis bills her nonprofit’s first venture as “a tiny store with a big mission,” but Girl AGain is looking for a White Plains-area location that would offer more space at an affordable rent. For Yes She Can Inc. to serve more trainees and more customers, they need larger retail space for Girl AGain, she said. “We need about 1,000 square feet so we can have more room to display our merchandise, and have flexible space that can function as a work room for our trainees and be used for Girl AGain events and parties,” Madfis said. “We need to be located where eight-year-old girls and their moms and grandmas want to go.”
The store, currently located in the Hartsdale Plaza, across from Ethan Allen and Blinds To Go, is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
More about Madfis’ mission can be found on the Internet at:
www.facebook.com/GirlAgainBoutique
