Dunbar High teacher aims to give away dozens of free prom dresses

CHICAGO (CBS) – Dresses, suits, purses, jewelry and shoes were all being given away by one Dunbar High School teacher as part of a prom dress giveaway.

Tyesa Walton, a diverse learners teacher at Dunbar Vocational Career Academy, started the prom dress giveaway in 2016 when she was teaching overseas in Dubai. The COVID pandemic hit and she took some time off, but started it back up last year.

It's not just dresses she gives away. She also gives away suits.

"Last year, we fully dressed a young man whose mom had passed a couple of weeks before," Walton said.

This year, she has more dresses and suits.

"She presented it to me and I was just all on board," said Dunbar Principal Richard McMillan. "A great opportunity to bring our school in, connect with the community, connect with other students."

The formal wear comes from donations from the community and some from Walton's own closet.

"I pulled those dresses out," she said. "Started making social media posts. People were contacting me from everywhere."

Students can look at the dresses during their lunch hour and after school. Senior Jaida Bozer said she's already picked out jewelry for her prom. She was in need of a dress for graduation.

"I came in here. I seen the dresses, the hues," Bozer said. "I seen purses and I was just like, 'Oh my god. This is beautiful.'"

So far, Walton has collected nearly 200 dresses.

"I mean, we have some pieces honey," Walton said. "Some of them still have tags. Some of them were never even worn."

Walton said unfortunately, some students were reluctant to look at the dresses because some of them were used.

"I don't know if it's like 'hand-me-down' or I want to get mines made, but they don't know baby we got something better than probably than what you got made," Walton said.

Bozer added, "It's not about 'Oh well I got this from somebody else.' It's about the fact that they care enough to give you something that they had. That is such a sentimental thing to me."

Walton had a dress giveaway last weekend and she gave away five dresses. She'll have another giveaway next weekend, which will be open to the public. It will be held at Dunbar High School from 9 a.m. to noon. She also has some more high-end dresses. Walton is charging $100 to rent those.

After this weekend's giveaway, if there are any dresses left, students can continue to look at dresses and suits during lunch and after school.