Meet the stars of the Inner Beauty Pageant, featuring girls in foster care

A teenager enters the stage with purple pompoms in hand. Also in full cheerleader mode is the founder, Marsha Morton. This is the Inner Beauty Contest for girls in foster care.

The LA County DCFS social worker says, “The girls need something positive to look up to, and the pageant gives them that positivity.”

This summer, 10 participants made it to election day. It is a free program with five weeks of classes covering life skills, fitness, cooking and finance.

“This parade starts from within and radiates outward,” she said.

Morton founded it fourteen years ago. A large number of social workers and others serve as volunteers. The pageant dresses all come from donations. Each participant receives a trophy and gifts.

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The young ladies choose a pageant name, such as Miss Majestic. Sixteen-year-old Mimarie says, “The pageant taught me not to be afraid of anyone and not to feel judged.”

Sophia chose Miss Glamourous. The teenager had heard: “There are parades going on.” She thought, ‘Maybe I can enter the world of pageants. I want to become an actress. I want my name to be known.”

Morton has championed this cause, seeing girls go from “shy, not wanting to do much from the start, to, by the end, an almost total metamorphosis.”

Foster youth interested in the free program can contact Morton at DCFS, 213-905-9762, or email [email protected]. Volunteers and donors can contact the same number.