EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — Prom at East Meadow was a dream come true for the 150 people in attendance, all with developmental disabilities.
The party was organized and hosted by EPIC Long Island – Extraordinary People In Care, a nonprofit whose day programs and group homes serve people with developmental disabilities.
The caregivers’ decorations were a Parisian night out, photographers captured their smiles, and they stomped along the red carpet to the beats of a DJ.
“It’s prom season. Everybody has a right to prom. Even if you couldn’t make it to prom, you now have prom,” said organizer Yolanda Smith.
“That’s very important to us.”
“I was super excited. It’s my first prom. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I feel like I’m in Moulin Rouge right now,'” attendee Jamie Segermeester said.
Not everyone in attendance spoke the language, but words were not needed to read the mood: They had their hands up, they were celebrating in their hearts, they were dancing to the beat.
“What you see is people having fun, and it’s something that many of us take for granted,” EPIC CEO Lisa Burch said.
“This means a lot to us because they’re not normal,” her parents, Ray and Joan Dengate, said. “It normalizes things for her and gets her to interact with people her age.”
At the end of the night there was a toast to celebrate participation – no promotion queens or kings were named as everyone was treated like kings.
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