CLEARWATER, Fla. — With a mission to "to bring beauty and a little fairy dust to the lives of young girls and women who would otherwise feel forgotten," My Fairy Godfathers are making women like Falana Shannon feel beautiful.
Shannon got to see herself like never before — as the focus of a professional modeling shooting.
“I love them,” she said as she saw some of the pictures for the first time.
The 27-year-old is a product of 36 different foster care homes, sexual abuse and domestic violence.
“I faced a lot of hardships. A lot of toxic relationships. I was hanging out with the wrong people.”
Through hard work and strong mentors in the Ready for Life program, she graduated high school and turned her life around.
Now she works at Ready for Life mentoring young women who are just like she was.
“I tell them it’s okay to make mistakes. But you don’t have to be a statistic.”
That brings us back to her day as a star.
Andrew Ashton and Steven Anderson of Laposh Salon are in their tenth year of running the Fairy Godfathers foundation.
They reward young women like Falana who have overcome adversity.
She got clothes, make-up and time with a photographer.
“We try to make it so they feel there is hope. Part of it is feeling beautiful inside and feeling beautiful outside," they said. “It’s like you are trying to turn the light on and they give you the motivation to. I am beautiful. I am important. I am special.”
The Fairy Godfathers have helped dozens of young women over the years feel special.
But maybe the most important gift was the message on the bracelet they gave Falana.
It says “faith.”
“I always look at it every morning even if I have rough days. I think of them and the other young women I want to help.”
For more information on the program go totheir website.
