In 2015, it was placed on Trina’s heart to create a program to provide dress suits for young men ages 15-21. After mapping out a plan in her head, she immediately made a few calls to friends and colleagues to donate suits and/or their time. After asking her then intern to create a flyer; she sent the flyer to Heroes Foundation Chairman, not knowing how he would respond.
He showed his support by personally delivering and donating his own suits to the Cuban Center. He has also spoken to the young men during the event. He also shared the flyer with Mr. Cuban, who has donated his own suits along with offering a tremendous amount of support.
After recruiting male mentors to volunteer during the event, the Suit Up Experience presented by the Mark Cuban Heroes Basketball Center was officially launched.
This experience was tailored to accommodate the young men with hair cuts, tie tutorial, wardrobe styling, grooming, resume writing, hygiene, credit, and etiquette classes. What was thought would be a small, one-day program has evolved into an on-going blessing.
With the support of family, friends, partners, our team, Concord Church, and the community at large have provided well over 4,000 suits.
And through our own trial by error, teachable moments, challenges, and tears, we have come to discover, the majority of our young man who has received a suit, was not based on a financial need. It maybe for the experience of selecting his very first suit to add to his wardrobe. Suit Up is for the young man who has a challenge finding a suit on the rack in his size.
Suit Up has been for the young man who has braces on his legs and need velcro pants to make it easier for him to achieve his goal of dressing himself. It is for the mother who has a son who spends 16 hours a day in a wheelchair.
This experience is for the young man whose first suit was for a special occasion when he was younger. This opportunity is for the young man seeking employment, graduating from high school or college. This is for the young man who has never had the experience of visiting a men’s clothing store and receive accurate suit measurements. This is for the mother who is not ashamed to express her frustration about not having transportation to get to us to pick up the suit for her sons.
Suit Up is for the mother who has to measure her son herself, because her car is not working. This is for the young man, who has never worn a suit a day in his life, simply because he was told the suit would be too expensive to maintain. It is for the young man who has never seen himself in a suit. This is for the young man who has an interest in fashion. This is for all young men, from all walks of life.
It maybe for the young man who has never had an opportunity to be in a men’s clothing store or haberdashery. A recent widow who would like to honor her late husband by blessing a young man with a suit. This experience is also to teach our interns about attending to details. And how to create an experience for their peers while also providing quality customer service. It’s something as simple as sorting through each garment and making sure it is in quality shape for every young man.
Suit Up is for our volunteers, who have the passion to unselfishly sow into the lives of other young men. It’s for the school teacher, working with students with special needs and motivating us to produce a fashion show with them. This is what happens when all of us come together from all walks of life.
In 2015, the Suit Up Experience kicked off as a male version of the “prom dress project,” which quickly evolved into a year-round program tailored to educate and equip young men in various areas of their lives.
2018 was the first time the program expanded to meet the unique needs of young men with physical, emotional, behavioral, or learning disabilities or impairments.
We have provided thousands of suits to young men ages 15-25, but more importantly we have empowered young men. We have been afforded the opportunity to see hundreds of young men to learn life lessons from male mentors who make it a priority to offer wise counsel and guidance.
In 2019, we launched the Suit Up POP Up Experience. We provided suits to young men from Tarrant County and we traveled to Detroit with the assistance of the Heroes Foundation, Concord Church, Williams Barber College, Mavs Foundation, Lombardo’s Custom Apparel and individual donors.
