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Fashion for a Future brings local celebrities and community together for Hope for Single Moms

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By Cris Greer

WKTV Managing Editor

greer@wktv.org



Local philanthropist Dr. Carla Ludwig said like many nonprofits, hers was started based on a personal story.


Her inspiration: Her youngest daughter Christina.

“My husband John and I had a daughter who became pregnant during her freshman year of college,” said Ludwig, founding director of Hope for Single Moms, to WKTV. The complete story and more can be seen on her website Hope for Single Moms. “My daughter and granddaughter (Ashley) moved away from Michigan when my granddaughter was nine months old. Without a career with a $40,000/year or more income, it was always going to be a struggle to pay the bills.



Hope for Single Moms philanthropist and founding director Carla Ludwig’s inspiration for the organization: Her daughter and granddaughter Christina and Ashley. (Courtesy, Carla Ludwig)



“A year after they moved, my husband and I offered our daughter the opportunity to go back to college. Long story short, she went back to college with a two-year-old, and I just saw a lot of challenges to success. I think the hard part was just to see that there wasn’t the support and resources at the university available to her.



“But honestly, we weren’t independently wealthy. What could I do? I tried to dismiss the thought. But God pursued me. I really didn’t know what I could do.”


Fashion for a Future (Photos Courtesy of Brock Visuals)

  • Hope for Single Moms client Kayla and two of her children in clothes by Runway Angels. (Courtesy, Brock Visuals)
  • Hope for Single Moms client Tanya and her two children in clothes by Runway Angels. (Courtesy, Brock Visuals)
  • Melisa Rose in clothes by Ashley Kinsey. (Courtesy, Brock Visuals)
  • Taryn Taplin (model, event coordinator, model coordinator) walks the runway wearing clothes by Ashley Kinsey. (Courtesy, Brock Visuals)
  • Doofan Iortyer walks the runway in clothes by Ashley Kinsey. Fashion for a Future. (Courtesy, Brock Visuals)
  • Celebrity model Terri DeBoer, former WOOD TV 8 meteorologist. (Courtesy, Brock Visuals)



Ludwig said it was a privilege to be included in her daughter’s journey.


“This experience showed me how hard single parenting is,” Ludwig continued. “I learned about the barriers single moms have to just about anything and everything in life. And then there’s the stress of trying to pay bills. But most striking was seeing the isolation and loneliness of being a single mom.

“I’ve learned a lot. It’s a privilege to be able to now serve the West Michigan community. After she graduated, we went and said, ‘Let’s do it here in Michigan.'”



Dr. Carla Ludwig, Hope for Single Moms founding director, talks to WKTV during her Fashion for a Future event on Sept. 28. (WKTV/Hayden Passig)



Fashion for a Future

One of the events Ludwig created to fundraise for Hope for Single Moms is Fashion for a Future, which held a third annual benefit on Sept. 28 at New Vintage Place in Grand Rapids.

Statewide celebrities like WOOD TV8’s Terri DeBoer, former Detroit Tigers pitcher Dave Rozema, who was on the team during its 1984 World Series Championship, and NPR/PBS host Shelley Irwin took part in the fashion show, the major fundraiser for Hope for Single Moms.


Former Detroit Tigers pitcher Dave Rozema hit the runway (see video above)

“I just met Carla this week and what a fantastic organization she has,” said Rozema, who walked the runway at the fashion show and signed autographs as well. “Carla’s a tremendous person. I just can’t see men assaulting wives … I’ve been married for 38 years and that’s unacceptable, so I’m helping out here. I have a nice couple of outfits and I’m here to sign autographs, raise money, and brought some donations in from Tram (Alan Trammell) and Kirk (Gibson) to help out. Every little bit counts.”




WKTV Managing Editor/Sports Director Cris Greer (left) and former Detroit Tigers pitcher from the 1984 World Series season Dave Rozema talk at Fashion for a Future. (WKTV/Cris Greer)




A native of Grand Rapids, Rozema graduated from Grand Rapids Central High School where his junior and senior seasons were spent as an all-city pitcher for the baseball team. He later pitched for the Detroit Tigers for eight years, including the 1984 World Series championship season. He retired from baseball after 10 years, posting a 60-53 record, 17 saves and a 3.47 ERA.

Fashion for a Future draws 200 people

“There were about 200 people there plus an additional 60 volunteers, including 20 professional models,” Ludwig said. “One flew in from New York City, one drove in from Cadillac, Traverse City and Kalamazoo. Everyone had a great time and learned about the needs of single mom families and how they, through partnering with Hope for Single Moms, can address those needs with real solutions that lead to transforming lives. Not only have people donated, but they are volunteering to help these families thrive.



“What people like about our program is that Hope for Single Moms provides long-term solutions. Their donations remove the financial barriers to a career education. They know these families will maintain economic independence because they are learning the life skills needed to do so. When I can tell a donor that a family will move from poverty to prosperity in about three years, they know they are making a difference and changing lives.”


Emcee Jennifer Feurstein (ABC 4 West Michigan)

“Jennifer Feuerstein has been our emcee all three years,” Ludwig said. “She has been a solo mom for eleven years, so it’s a cause close to her heart.”


Fashion show featured designer Ashley Kinsey

Ashley Kinsey was the featured fashion designer at the event showing 17 looks from her new collection. A designer in the industry for about 20 years, she has worked for a variety of companies, including major brands like Anthropologie, J.Crew, Cato Fashions and most recently Meijer.

Ashley Kinsey, featured fashion designer at Fashion for a Future. (WKTV/Hayden Passig)





“I support this event just because I love what they’re doing for single moms, helping them get educated, giving the mentorship that they need so that they can support their children better in the long run,” said Kinsey, who donated 20 percent of the sales of the show’s designs to Hope for Single Moms.






Grand Rapids Ballet School and Junior Company Director Attila Mosolygo

“I’m very grateful to be part of this wonderful event,” Mosolygo said. “I always look for opportunities to reach out into the community, to do community work, and this a fantastic way to do it. I work with a lot of students on a daily basis … and it’s good to know that there’s somebody out there that’s thinking of those single parents, single moms and their kids and their difficulties. I could not say no to this event.”



Celebrity model Attila Mosolygo, Grand Rapids Ballet School and Junior Company Director. (Courtesy, Brock Visuals)



“Education is the key”

As Ludwig will tell you, one of the key headlines on her Hope for Single Mom’s website states: “Education is the key to moving single mom families from poverty to prosperity!”

When helping her daughter Christina she noticed, “many organizations/programs offered short-term material assistance to single moms and their children. Good and necessary, but there were no long-term solutions available.”

“Our program is for single parents who are full-time students in college or trade school,” Ludwig continued. “Our goal is to help parents and their young children develop the educational and family life skills needed to achieve self-sufficiency.”

Teach a woman to fish approach

“What that means is helping a woman get the education she needs to provide well for her children,” Ludwig explains. “Hope for Single Moms focuses on a career education, but also provides community, life assistance and mentoring.


“Not only do we give them a career education, but we have volunteers who help with life assistance, such as budgeting. If they honestly need it, whatever it takes.”

A holistic/whole person approach

“We really want to have a holistic approach so that we’re not just throwing money at them to go back to school, but we want to set them up for success,” she explained. “So, in addition to finances, we also provide mentors. We also provide life assistance teams because some of our clients don’t have a supportive family. We want to be that help and encouragement that they need.”

Four new families to help

“We’re about $6,000 short of the goal, but are moving forward with our four new families, two of whom were there,” said Ludwig, whose organization is providing laptops, car repairs, tuition bills, car insurance and gas money, among other expenses. “We also have two families on our waitlist to enter the program.”

“People often have stereotypes about single moms; however, once they meet the women we work with, that stereotype is broken. We are able to transform so many lives with not a ton of money, and of course, because our staff is all volunteers. These women have already done so much of the groundwork and are highly motivated.”

West Michigan is very generous

Ludwig talked about the upcoming holidays and said they’ll be asking the community to make sure every family has the food they need for the holiday.


“We also do a holiday gift drive,” she continued. “Each family has a Christmas wishlist we put on Amazon, and people can buy as little or as much as they want. West Michigan is very generous and we often have couples who buy everything for an entire family for Christmas.”


For more information on how to donate, visit Hope for Single Moms.



Last month to see ‘Bats’, ‘POPnology’ at Grand Rapids Public Museum

Entertainment, Local Entertainment, , , ,

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

This alien statue is part of the “POPnology” exhibit at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. (Supplied)

Two exhibits at the Grand Rapids Art Museum will be coming to a close at the end of the month, “Bats; Masters of the Night” and “POPnology” as the Museum makes way for two new exhibits to open in the spring.

“Bats,” which is included with admission, works to dispel the myths about these creatures of the night with interactive displays that demonstrate how to hear like a bat, learn about pollination, bat diets, and sonar ability. The “POPnology,” is a sci-fi experience as it looks at how pop culture meets technology with the exhibit including the DeLorean Time Machine, R2D2, E.T. and more. The “POPnology” exhibit is $5 per person in addition to admission.

Also closing on Jan. 23 is the “Windows GR” paintings. The Museum purchased the paintings by local artists of color as part of the Windows GR activation project. Five of these works are now part of the GRPM’s permanent Collections and can be viewed at grpmcollections.org.

Opening in the spring will be “Prerosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs,” which will feature life-size models, casts of rare fossils and other interactive activities. Also opening will be the GRPM original exhibit “Fashion + Nature,” which will explore the complex relationship between the fashion industry and the natural environment.

 

For more information about the Grand Rapids Public Museum, visit www.grpm.org. The Museum is located at 272 Pearl St. NW. Residents in Kent County receive reduce admission rates and free parking. 

Celebrating Tết: The Vietnamese Áo Dài

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, City of Kentwood, City of Wyoming, , , ,

By Adrian Ɖặng Bảo Oánh

 

Áo Dài is the name of a dress that is not only traditional in the Vietnamese culture; it has been deemed the Vietnamese National Dress. Although the design is not unisex; it does offer a female and a male version. The female Áo Dài is more form fitting and the men wear their version of  Áo Dài in a loose fashion.

 

There is no reliable record of exactly when the design and introduction of Áo Dài to the populace occurred. It is believed that Áo Dài came into existence in the 1920s. It bears vague resemblance to the Chinese Xường Xám. However, it is neither a copy of the Xường Xám dress, nor is it a derivative of this dress in any way. The Áo Dài is as ethnically Vietnamese as it can be.

 

The design of the lady’s Áo Dài hugs the body with delicate fabrics. People use thin, flowing fabrics to make every day Áo Dài. For formal events and occasions, the employment of fabrics would lean toward fancier varieties such as silk or velour. Áo Dài is best described as a tunic with a full coverage from the neck down to the waist. Then it splits on both sides at the waist revealing a tiny bit of bare skin, and it gives way to a front and back flap or tab. The original Áo Dài had an old-fashioned tall and formal looking collar. Later on, designers introduced other neck arrangements such as square, low cut oval necks, etc. The sleeves were straight and slim in the beginning. Now we see flared sleeves, puffy sleeves at the top of the arms, tapered sleeves, and other designs. The front and rear tabs also change back and forth in lengths. Many people still stick to the classic design of Áo Dài because it is pretty and timeless.  Áo Dài were mostly plain in single color in the olden days. Nowadays, Áo Dài are more colorful with embroidery, prints, hand-painted artwork on them. They now come in many more colors as compared to the past. Originally, women wore Áo Dài with black or white pants made of satin or silk. In modern days, colorful Áo Dài may be worn with pants in matching or contrasting colors. The pants, in any case, must not overpower the dress with their colors or designs. The entire outfit also looks good with high heels. There are also headgears to compliment different styles of Áo Dài. The simplest one is the cone-shaped hat made of woven dried leaves. The fancier headwear to go with Áo Dài would be like a queen’s crown. The hair wraps in velvet of different colors are also pretty and popular, especially in North Vietnam. There is also a variety of other headwear more associated with an occupation such as a wide-brim hat that used to be worn by performing artists.

 

 

The Áo Dài has been the Vietnamese National Dress for a century; therefore, many public all-girls high schools mandate that students wear Áo Dài as the school uniform. The Áo Dài uniform is usually white with the small school’s insignia sewn on near the neck. There are also schools that adopt blue or purple-colored Áo Dài as their uniforms.

 

 

The men’s Áo Dài comes generally in two styles: the fancy style and the diplomatic style. The fancy style is tailored using rich fabrics such as thicker silks. The men’s Áo Dài also looks like a tunic with front and back flaps or tabs. These garments are tailored to be worn more loosely over the body. This style would be a touch colorful, but not quite as colorful as the lady’s Áo Dài can be. The common colors are blue, gold, burgundy, and sometimes purple. They usually have embroidered or printed round gold or silver seals on them. The diplomats and government officials prefer the diplomatic style. This style is always black in color. The thinner, veil or mesh-like fabrics are employed here. The see-though diplomatic men’s Áo Dài is worn over a white underlying suit. Men would wear the diplomatic-style Áo Dài to work in governmental offices, to  go to formal meetings, or to visit higher-ranking officers. Even scholars and teachers like to wear this style at any given time. The fancy-style Áo Dài is worn during big fancy events like New Year, weddings, parties, holidays, etc. In the modern day, Vietnamese men do not wear Áo Dài as readily on a normal day as women would. They save their Áo Dài for special occasions. To be properly dressed, a men’s Áo Dài would not be complete without the matching headwear to accompany it. The men’s headwear would resemble the women’s formal headgear that comes with their Áo Dài. However, playful men wear Áo Dài without the hat to show a little bit of a carefree attitude.

 

 

To the eyes of the non-Vietnamese observers, Áo Dài may appear to be pretty, interesting, or even weird. Much of it really depends on who tailored the outfit, and who is wearing it. Just like any kind of attire from any part of the world, fashion’s positive or negative is owed very much to the designer and who wears it, and how it is presented to the judging public. The best traits of the design have to be properly exhibited. We have very good looking Áo Dài-clad people, and a few not so impressive Áo Dài wearers. To be fair, please attend a sizeable Vietnamese gathering where one has the opportunity to see many Áo Dài floating around and arrive at your own judgments. Nevertheless, we know now when we see Áo Dài out there in public. It is a Vietnamese design, and the Vietnamese folks are downright proud of it for a century to this date! If you like what you see, perhaps you should have one made for yourself. You might be pleasantly surprised!

Kendall fashion students get inspired by Grand Rapids Public Museum collection

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Kendall College students look over pieces in the Grand Rapids Public Museum clothing collection.
Kendall College students look over pieces in the Grand Rapids Public Museum clothing collection.

The Grand Rapids Public Museum is partnering with Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University’s Pamella Roland DeVos School of Fashion to open a new fashion exhibit, “Inspired Style,” on Aug. 6. This new exhibit is a collaborative fashion project, where students used the Museum’s fashion collection for inspiration to create new, modern interpretations of the historic pieces.

 

Kendall College students work on their designs inspired by the items in the Grand Rapids Public Museum's clothing collection.
Kendall College students work on their designs inspired by the items in the Grand Rapids Public Museum’s clothing collection.

Nine students each chose a garment from the Museum’s collections from different decades spanning the 1850s to 1950s. Their new pieces incorporate elements of the historic garments into their own original work, resulting in a modern artistic interpretation.

 

Visitors will be able to examine the various details of both the students’ pieces and the historic garments they drew inspiration from.

 

This exhibit will open in the GRPM’s Circle Theater, located on the Museum’s third floor, on Saturday, Aug. 6 and run through Jan. 8, 2017. Admission to this exhibit will be included with general admission to the Museum.

 

The GRPM’s extensive clothing collection offers a significant and multi-faceted view of the social, cultural and fashion history of the Midwestern United States. Since the GRPM began collecting in 1854, it has amassed a comprehensive collection of more than 10,000 clothing items, with strengths in fashionable garments from the 19th and 20th centuries. It is especially strong in the areas of women’s clothing, wedding attire, uniforms, items with local provenance and unique special function items, such as women’s athletic wear. Currently, most of these collection items are stored in the GRPM’s climate-controlled archives.

 

Working with KCAD’s Fashion Studies students is one way the GRPM is making its extensive Collections an open and accessible community resource. Students have learned through these artifacts by studying not just the garments but the social environment and circumstances during which the original garments were created.

 

“By opening up this amazing connection to our history, the Public Museum allowed our students to explore fashion from a social perspective in addition to the technical and creative aspects of garment design,” said Assistant Professor and KCAD Fashion Studies Program Chair Lori Faulkner. “It was an immersive experience which will guide our students to be intentional in their design process, informing and enhancing their work.”

 

“It is exciting to partner with the KCAD’s Pamella Roland DeVos School of Fashion students to be able to use our Collections in a new and exciting way,” said Andrea Melvin, collections curator at the GRPM. “Our fashion Collection is one of the most expansive collections we have, and we are always looking for fun ways to share more of what we have with the community; this exhibit is doing just that.”

 

The Grand Rapids Public Museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, with its main location at 272 Pearl Street, NW. For additional information including hours of operation, admission fees and exhibit/event listings, please visit www.grpm.org.