Inclusive fashion show is a beautiful thing, says Saginaw mother

SAGINAW, MI – Smiles, high fives and cheers filled the gym as models strutted down a runway in a special event catered to them on Sunday, April 28.

The models were people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and this weekend’s This Is Me event was a time for them to feel loved and supported.

Flint-based This Is Me Foundation founder Tracy Palmer and Saginaw-based Grateful Love Foundation founder Shortorah Carter came together to bring the well-loved Flint event to Saginaw.

Related: We Are Flint: This is Me special needs fashion show shines in its fifth year

The fashion show took place at the Buena Vista Community Center, 1940 S. Outer Drive.

“I have a friend with a son with autism, who absolutely loves fashion, and she came to me with an idea to have a fashion show,” Palmer said. “I created something just for them and that’s how it started. I promise you, I was just doing one show, and then we did it, and it took on a life of its own.”

The first ever This Is Me show was held in Flint in 2017, Palmer said. She and Carter plan to make the fashion show an annual event in Saginaw as it is in Flint. Carter hopes more people will fill the seats next year and cheer on each participant as they strut their styles.

Three designers donated clothes for the show, including Different is the New Cool, Life Is and Trending Minds.

“We created a safe haven for them to come out here and be creative, unique, express themselves,” Carter said. “I’m all about inclusion and being kind. We’re all in this together. We should be supportive of one another.”

In the show’s first year, all 10 participants were excited to be able to walk the runway, Carter said.

Saginaw resident Aneicia Harris brought her son Josiah Harris, 6, to participate for the first time.

Josiah Harris has Down syndrome, and Aneicia Harris said she was a bit nervous about how he would react to taking on the runway, but he loved it.

“A lot of times, our kids are excluded out of things, so just to know that somebody does see them, they are noticed, they can be a part; it’s a beautiful thing,” Harris said. “I just hope that people see him for him. He is a typical 6-year-old boy. He can do anything that anybody else does.”

Palmer and Carter hope more participants can join in on the inclusive runway fun next year.

“They need to feel like they can do anything, they need to feel like they can be free. They are beautiful, they are smart, they can do anything they set their minds to. They should not be limited because of how other people feel,” Palmer said.

Both Palmer and Carter believe the show was a success and asked the community to follow along their journey to see what’s next.

Find more information on “This Is Me” here and more about the Grateful Love Foundation here.

Related: ‘Wonderfully Unique’ pageant celebrates people with disabilities

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