December 08th, 2020

Mission Downtown Biz: A Dressing Needs

by Joanna McBride

​It’s nice when you hear a story about an entrepreneur who decided to start a business with the intent of helping others while doing something they love. Meet Amberin, owner and operator of A Dressing Needs-Adaptive Clothing located in historic Downtown Mission. They offer specialized outerwear and adaptive clothing for people living with medical and mobility issues. A Dressing Needs has been built on the belief that all people should have access to comfortable and functional clothing.

Amberin can't remember a time in her life that she was not around people with disabilities. While growing up, her mother worked with adults living with special needs and also hosted a home share in the family home. “I have always been comfortable around persons living with a cognitive developmental disability,” Amberin tells us. “Care facilities operated much differently when I was young and I would frequently be invited to the home my mom worked at to play Atari or board games with the residents.

Sewing was also an important part of her young life. After developing severe eczema/psoriasis as a young teenager she learned to sew things that helped her fit in with her peers while remaining comfortable. This ability to create functional fashion for herself set the foundation for helping others with dressing routines.

Amberin spent much of her early career providing applied behavior analysis therapy to children with special needs. Shortly after completing a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology/Sociology from SFU, she ventured out on a journey travelling across Canada and the US which changed her life.  

It was on that trip in 1999 that the idea for A Dressing Needs was born. While visiting breathtaking Niagara Falls on a very wet afternoon, Amberin saw a specialized baby stroller equipped with an innovative, easily removable quality rain covering. Immediately she had an aha moment, “if users of wheelchairs had something similar, the ability to go outside would be so much easier and more comfortable.”

Determined to create the perfect covering for a range of motor skills and a variety of wheelchairs, Amberin spent the next several months experimenting with a variety of patterns and prototypes. Her business opened in March of 2000 with her main goal being to ease daily dressing routines and promote inclusion for people living with a disability. Over the next ten years, Amberin ran the business from several different home-based locations while continuing to work as a residential support provider. This experience expanded her knowledge of medical and mobility equipment and allowed her to better understand the benefits and limitations of adaptive clothing.  In late 2008, Amberin found a wheelchair - accessible space with AlleyCat Hemlines and has been at this Downtown Mission location ever since. 

Over the past 20 years of helping people, Amberin has managed to polish her designs and finalize several patterns. Her specialized rain ponchos for wheelchair and mobility scooter users are unlike any other adaptive outerwear available in Canada. “I know how beneficial and advantageous these jackets are for wheelchair users,” she says. “My designs help people everyday. Adaptive clothing allows people of all abilities to improve their daily dressing routines,”

​Over the last twenty years in business she has heard many amazing stories of tragedy and how people find their way. On a daily basis, Amberin is reminded of the power of the human spirit and feels it brings an added richness to her life. It is people like Amberin that teach us all that you only need three little thing to make a big difference.
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Your passion. Your talent. Your heart.