Sometimes really big ideas start in really simple ways.
That’s what happened the day God pricked Susan Wilcox Turner’s ears while she was poking around in a furniture store in Montgomery.
“A woman with an accent that sounded Russian or eastern European started helping me,” Turner said.
So Turner decided to try out the few Russian words in her arsenal, words picked up on a recent Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) trip to Russia.
She had no idea where that connection would lead.
The woman, she discovered, was from Moldova and an international representative for Stella’s Voice, an organization that aims to protect Moldova’s orphans from human trafficking.
Addressing an urgent need
“She was the second person God put in my path in a very short period of time who was involved in fighting human trafficking,” Turner said. “And when God hits you over the head with something, you have to listen.”
She did.
And listening set her on a path that led to putting on a huge, packed-out event that drew in more than $5,000 to fight human trafficking.
She and others called it Fashion With a Cause, and on June 6, it was standing-room only as women took to the runaway and shared stories of the urgent need to protect young women worldwide.
How do a fashion show and the issue of human trafficking go together?
Turner, a member of Spring Hill Baptist Church, Millry, said the whole idea was a “God thing.”
After her conversation in the furniture store she began researching how to fight human trafficking, and that led her to attend the End it Alabama workshop held at First Baptist Church, Montgomery, earlier this year, where she met representatives from Hope Haven, another faith-based organization working to combat human trafficking.
At the same time, Turner was going through the home of her late mother, Edith Wilcox, who had left behind boxes and boxes of 1950s dresses in pristine condition.
And suddenly one day the lightbulbs came on.
Alicia Atcheson, who works with Turner, said they and others began to dream up an event that could build up young women and prevent them from being trafficked as well as raise funds to rescue girls who have already fallen victim to trafficking.
“We felt that combining the cause with a fashion show would not only entice a greater number of attendees but also serve as a platform to boost the self-esteem of those involved,” said Atcheson, executive director of the Wilcox Foundation and Gallery, which began with Edith Wilcox as its benefactor.
The idea quickly took off and got bigger and bigger, she said.
Educating the community
Working with Morrell Turner, a local fashion blogger and stylist, they put together a runway show involving Wilcox’s vintage couture pieces, formal gowns from Angela’s Formal Wear and several other pieces that highlighted the personal style of local teens.
About 60 models took part, and guest speakers used the opportunity to educate the packed house about trafficking and the ways traffickers target young women and men.
The local police chief, for example, talked about what type of trafficking incidents he had seen in the area and ways families could avoid the risks.
“The event helped the community learn about what trafficking looks like, how to protect themselves and what agencies are fighting it,” Atcheson said. “It was a great way to bring out teenagers and their parents and have them as a captive audience to be able to educate them about this issue.”
Those who came to the event also saw “Chosen,” a 20-minute film that tells the story of a young woman who was being ushered into human trafficking.
“It was the biggest educational piece of the night,” Atcheson said. “People were really moved by what they heard.”
Turner said the video walked viewers through practical red flags that teens should notice in their own lives and the lives of their friends.
“All through the story of the young girl, it talks about how her friends helped her hide things, like her boyfriend who was buying her expensive gifts,” she said. “It brought up questions that should be asked — how is this guy never working? What did he want you to do? Where does he want you to go? It’s helping them know enough to ask questions and be a real friend to their friends.”
Altogether, the fashion show was a “pretty heavy event,” Turner said, and she believes it got a lot of people talking about hard issues.
The event was such a great success, she said, that the Wilcox Foundation and Gallery is already making plans for a second fashion show next year.
In all the event raised more than $5,000 for Hope Haven, Stella’s Voice and the WMU Foundation’s Hayes Endowment, which is used to fight human trafficking.
‘If we could save one’
“Our heart’s cry was that if we could save one girl from trafficking, it was worth it,” Atcheson said.
Turner agreed.
“It’s all about Him and all for His glory,” she said. “If we can save one young girl, it’s a wonderful thing.”
For more information about Fashion With a Cause, visit www.wilcoxgallery.org/events. For more information about Stella’s Voice, visit www.stellasvoice.org.
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