Erick Deluna
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By Erick De Luna and Christopher Vasquez
Anyssa Kelley remembers not having the money to buy a prom dress.
“No one’s going to give me a dress. I’m just some South Side girl. No one cares about my situation,” she remembers telling herself. She’s not alone.
A 2015 nationwide survey released today by Visa Inc., “shows that the burgeoning phenomenon of “promposals” – elaborate invitations to the high school prom that can mirror a marriage proposal – are costing the average American household with teens a staggering $324 in 2015.”
But there’s more than the dress. Southern families, the survey reports, will spend an average of $859 on attire, limousine rental, tickets, flowers, pictures, food, accommodations, and the after party.
As a high school student at Fox Tech High School, Kelley felt lost. Her mom, disabled and unable to work, helped her with the little she could, but it was during this time she experienced one of the hardest moments in her life.
“My dad was diagnosed with cancer my sophomore year,” she said.
She was one of many San Antonio girls unable to afford a dress for prom.
Kelley found help through nonprofit Significant U’s Empower U conference which organizes the Fairy Godmother Project (FGP), aimed at providing support and dresses for young women. FGP collects gently worn or new evening gowns and cocktail dresses for girls to wear to prom.
Significant U Empowerment Conference was held April 30 in the Performing Arts Center at Palo Alto College. More than 100 young women participated in the event to hear guest speakers and learn about academic scholarships.
For founder Carmen Lidia De La Rosa, 26, a senior at Baptist University of Américas, the turnout couldn’t have been better at this year’s conference.
We’ve doubled our numbers each year!” she said proudly.
De La Rosa founded the nonprofit group when she herself couldn’t find a dress.
“I was invited to a UTSA military ball,” she said, “and I couldn’t afford a dress. I was eating Ramen noodles like a normal college student.”
For De La Rosa, an unforeseen event would give her the opportunity to carry on an initiative that serves young women.
“One of the moms on my soccer team said, ‘I know this lady who helps girls with dresses,’” she said.
De La Rosa was introduced to Melissa Menchaca, a woman who collected about one hundred dresses at her home to give to young women who couldn’t afford to buy one.
Aside from receiving a dress, De La Rosa would inherit much more than she could ever imagine.
In the midst of their conversation, Menchaca told her she couldn’t oversee donations anymore.
“Do you mind if I do it?” responded De La Rosa.
In that moment, Significant U was born. From there, De La Rosa expanded the purpose of giving away dresses.
“I wanted to give meaning to a dress, and make it matter more than going to prom,” she said. “It was also on my heart to do a conference, and the opportunity to make it a reality came up.”
In its third year, Significant U celebrated its first young women’s conference.
“This came out of nothing. Just to see it today, it feels like a conference,” she said.
When Kelley met Significant U Founder, De La Rosa, she said her life was forever changed. It was only after seeing herself in her dress that she understood what De La Rosa was trying to do: Make young women feel beautiful inside and out.
“I looked so good!” she said smiling, holding back tears of joy.
Anyssa plans on double majoring in respiratory therapy and special education. It would be her way of giving back.
Although prom season is over, the nonprofit collects formal dresses, clutches, shoes and accessories year-round. For more information, email significant.u@gmail.com.
