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One day out of the year, the basement of the People's Emergency Center in West Philadelphia transforms from a homeless shelter into a shopper's paradise.

A passion-for-fashion haven where teen girls help other teen girls do some serious retail therapy.

We're not talking Goodwill hand-me-downs. Think more King of Prussia cool. There were new Uggs and Boyfriend jeans. Never-worn Urban Outfitters and Free People tops. Donated jewelry and accessories from Anthropologie. And a whole section for plus sizes and children's wear.

Girls, I can hear you salivating now. But here's the best part: It was absolutely free.

For the third year, Episcopal Academy students Samantha Field, 17, and Taylor Durovsik, 18, have presented Fashion for a Cause, a shopping extravaganza for low-income girls and young women ages 12 to 21.

"We wanted girls to have the opportunity to go shopping," says Field, a junior who lives in Gladwyne and came up with the idea when she was 14. "Everybody loves to shop."

Hard enough to cope

Problem is, not all girls can afford to. Coping with teenage angst is hard enough even with a roof over your head and decent clothes to wear. But imagine being a teen and homeless, shuttling from shelter to shelter, school to school, and losing the few possessions you do own along the way.

Teens are not usually the face of homelessness. But the truth is there are 1.5 million homeless children across the country. About 1,000 are right here in Philly.

It's an invisible population that's growing by the day in the city and suburbs as the economy sputters.

But one that has finally made a blip on a president's radar. President Obama said he was "heartbroken that any child in America is homeless. . . . It is not acceptable for children and families to be without a roof over their heads in a country as wealthy as ours."

In the meantime, teen girls could use something as simple - yet as meaningful - as a shopping day.

"The freedom to laugh and giggle and be with your girlfriends, to be able to get things for yourself and your children - these are things we take for granted," says People's Emergency Center program coordinator Madeline Hoch, whose facility has served more than 200 young women and their children in the last five years.

Just in time

The timing couldn't have been better for Taisha Brown, 18, who picked up three pairs of jeans for herself and a teddy bear for her son's first birthday.

"This is very helpful for me because I need clothes for work," says Brown, who was due to start her new job with the 52nd Street Business Association.

Field and Durovsik began working on this year's Fashion for a Cause three months ago, soliciting donations from retailers and their own families, enlisting classmates and their moms and grandmoms as volunteers.

Field, whose father, David J. Field, is president and chief executive of Entercom Communications, was raised on volunteerism.

"Each month we'd go out as a family and do a community-service project," says Jaimie Field, Samantha's mother. "We're very fortunate, so as part of the deal, you have to give back."

This year the girls worried that stores wouldn't give as much because of the fragile economy, "but the response has been more than we expected," Samantha says.

The dozens of girls taking advantage of all of the donations was their biggest reward.
"To see so many girls show up . . .," says Durovsik.

"It makes me really happy," Field adds, completing Durovsik's sentence the way best friends do.
"It doesn't get any better than this," says Durovsik, a senior who's headed to Lehigh next year. "The hope is my brother and sister can take over when I leave. It's too important to let it fade."