People with disabilities get their chance to 'shine' at Pueblo event celebrating inclusion

Pueblo rolled out the red carpet on Friday to celebrate the city’s first in-person Night to Shine event since 2020.

Night to Shine, sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation, is a prom-like experience for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. At least a hundred people — and likely significantly more — attended the annual event, which is held in Pueblo as well as dozens of U.S. cities and some foreign countries.

“I feel really good,” said Mike Gill, a person with an intellectual and developmental disability, moments after stepping off the dance floor Friday. “I’m feeling alive and very excited.”

Gill, 29, was one of dozens of people to celebrate the experience and dance to classic hits such as “Celebrate” by Kool & the Gang and Will Smith’s “Gettin’ Jiggy with It.” Many people entered the event on a red carpet and were applauded and photographed by people emulating paparazzi.

Some attendees wore attire secured from Pueblo Regional Center, which collected a considerable amount of donations from the community and later gave it away for free by turning one of its rooms into a makeshift clothing and jewelry store.

Attendees could also enter a photo booth to capture the moment or get their hair or nails done by cosmetology students from IntelliTec College. A karaoke and activity room offered other options for entertainment, but the night's big draw was a limo service that helped people travel to and from the Family Worship Center where the event was held.

“(This event) is very much needed and a huge blessing,” said Amanda Reed, the Night to Shine coordinator for Pueblo who received help from around 250 volunteers. “When I told people in the community that Night to Shine was back, I got a lot of hugs and high fives. There’s just not a lot of opportunities (for people in this community).

“That’s why Tim Tebow does this. There is a whole community of people that are just forgotten about. This means a lot to them. They get to be treated like royalty.”

All attendees were crowned kings and queens at the end of the event, Reed said, capping off a night free of potential judgement in which the people who attended were the sole focus.

“(Night to Shine) gives them an out and safe place to go,” said June Wells, mother of Danielle Wells, a person with an intellectual and developmental disability and a friend of Gill’s who attended Friday's soiree. “It doesn’t matter the age group or their illness. Everybody is here to have a good time. It’s about fellowship.”

Pueblo held its last Night to Shine event in February 2020, just weeks before states began to implement shutdowns at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic shelved in-person iterations of the event in 2021 and 2022.

“The event is called Night to Shine, but (staff and I) were joking the other day — this (event could be called) a night to soar, especially with everything we’ve been through over the last three years,” said Kodjo Akakpo, Pueblo Regional Center director. “It’s beautiful.”

The Pueblo Regional Center houses people with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities, many of whom were in attendance on Friday, including Dorothy Young.

Young, 66, wore a green skirt that matched her eye shadow and took to the red carpet alongside her “buddy” for the night, April Styles. Young said she was excited to experience the event with Styles.

“(Night to Shine) allows for reconnection and being able to be here and be themselves,” Akakpo said. “This is our community and for them, (they can) just participate in this event without any regard for disability or anything like that. It’s about being here as who you are.”

Night to Shine has grown into a worldwide campaign since it first started in 2015 when it was held in 44 churches in 26 states, according to the Tim Tebow Foundation. On Friday, more than 600 churches across 46 countries hosted the event, the foundation said on its Facebook page.

Chieftain reporter Josue Perez can be reached at JHPerez@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @josuepwrites.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo celebrates inclusion, fellowship at Night to Shine event