Cinderella's Closet: Where Dreams Come True

The curtains opened and the whole room erupted in applause as she walked down the red carpet, leaning against the arm of a tall, charming young man in a suit and tie. He took her to the end of the carpet and spun her around, showing off her golden prom dress and huge smile.

She was half his height and her infatuating smile, shining eyes, hesitant shuffle and tilt of the head as she waved to her audience betrayed the fact that she had a disability. All the children in the room trying on dresses and tuxes had a disability or life-threatening illness. Yet there was nothing but beaming smiles and an overpowering sense of excitement. They were getting ready for a ball.

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The House, Inc., Student Leadership Center in Woodbridge hosted its annual Cinderella’s Closet this weekend, giving away dresses, tuxes and all the accessories to children with disabilities or life-threatening illnesses—all to help them prepare for the upcoming Seventh Annual "A Cinderella Ball" which The House is hosting at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., on June 3.

Students from the greater D.C. area, from middle school through high school, will arrive at the ball to see forty marines from Quantico Marine Corps Base forming the ceremonial sword arch as their welcome. Once inside, Walt Disney Company’s Cinderella will greet each student. The ball will then consist of a concert by award-winning duo Mary Mary, dinner, and dancing.

New York Giants linebacker, and Super Bowl winner, Clint Sintim will be escorting his sister Brittany, who has Autism Spectrum Disorder, to the ball this year. “This is an outstanding event with a meaningful message,” Sintim told The House. “I’m honored to be able to escort my sister to A Cinderella Ball. This is a night our family won’t soon forget.”

The Cinderella's Closet event allows the students who are attending the ball and their families to enjoy the process, without the cost and stress of finding the perfect dress or tux. All the dresses, tuxes and accessories are donated from all around the country and provided to the families free of charge.

The students also experience the "Cinderella treatment" of being transformed into a prince or princess with volunteers ready to help each and every student find the perfect outfit and professional seamstresses ready to make alterations.

Once they pick out and try on the dress/tux they want, each student is escorted by one of The House’s volunteers—mostly students who are part of the center’s leadership programs—down a red carpet to the applause of the whole room. He or she is then taken to the accessory tables where girls are assisted in choosing from an array of jewelry, gloves, tiaras or headpieces, shoes and purses, and the boys have their pick of vests, ties, cufflinks, shoes, and pocket handkerchiefs.

At the shoes table, one of the volunteers was giving lessons to a girl on how to walk in high heels. “We have mastered the high heels,” she proclaimed triumphantly as they walked towards the girl’s family.

Whitney Houston's version of “I Will Always Love You,” sang out in the background as another girl was escorted down the red carpet, this one in a soft silvery green. She was more shy than the girl in gold, but also couldn’t help grinning at the applause.

A blind boy felt his way through the tuxes and another girl using a cane practiced walking on high heels. Two other girls, hand-in-hand, were perusing the jewelry table, while a girl with Down Syndrome in a hot pink dress peered closely at herself in a full-length mirror.

“It’s amazing to see the transformation,” said Debbie Stachkunas, one of the volunteers helping girls find the perfect dress. She nodded toward one of the girls now trying on earrings, “She was all rough and tough when she came in and look at her now. The exciting part is matching the bling.”

One of Stachkunas’s sons attended the ball for a couple years, and she said it is neat to be on the other side now helping kids find what they need. Stachkunas is a special education preschool teacher and said she has seen several children come in who she taught in preschool. “It’s neat to get to see what they are like all grown up now.” She helped one of her former students find the perfect purple dress—the girl’s favorite color.

At the jewelry table moms stood by their daughters helping them pick out the perfect accessories—sometimes with conflicting opinions. “One girl was here earlier who just kept saying, ‘I want something fancy!’” said Julia Acosta, Director of External Affairs for The House. “But her mom was like, ‘No, dear, you just need something simple.’” Moms will still be moms. Acosta said the girl got her fancy jewelry.

“These students thrive at the Cinderella Ball—some even live for it,” said Helen McCormick, President and Founder of The House. “We’ve known families to postpone chemo treatments just so they can attend. They count down the days to the ball.”

McCormick said they start getting calls in January from returning families wanting to make sure there will be another ball that year. “’We just want to make sure you don’t forget us,’ they say. How could we forget you? You are in our hearts!” she said.

A former teacher, McCormick was inspired to start A Cinderella Ball when she saw how socially ostracized children with illnesses and disabilities are. “They were always the last to leave my classroom and the last to be included in events.”

A big part of the training The House incorporates into its leadership programs is the idea of putting others first. So she approached the students in the center and said “What if we level the playing field for these students. What would that look like?” She said her students took the idea and ran with it and every year love putting on the ball and precursory closet.

Another theme that makes this work every year is “Harambeé,” a Kenyan term meaning “pulling together for the common goal,” she said. She said they receive donations from as far away as California. Her Alma Mater in Tennessee gets involved every year as well. “Even if you are at a garage sale, you can be thinking about the Cinderella Ball,” she said.

The Closet had 100 families registered for the weekend, each getting a half hour appointment of special treatment. All the children are able to take their outfit home for keeps, and several walked out still dressed up, ready for a night of magic.   

You can learn more about The House, Inc., Student Leadership Center on its website. You can also donate to A Cinderella Ball, or find out more about it, here.