Mother-daughter duo start disability-positive clothing line
By Louise Kinross
Looking for a cool hoodie or t-shirt that promotes disability inclusion? Check out GoodOnU, a new business started by a mother-daughter team in Richmond Hill, Ont.
"I wanted to create a meaningful opportunity for my daughter Ashley as an adult, as she isn't able to have traditional employment because she needs a support person," says Sherry Caldwell, pictured with her daughter above.
Ashley, 17, is in Grade 12. She loves fashion and art and hates math. Ashley, who has a rare genetic condition that makes communication difficult, drew the pink heart that is the company logo, and enjoys modelling GoodOnU clothes as part of the business's marketing efforts.
"She's proud of her work and when I tell her I'm doing a bit of a photo shoot after school you can see the excitement in her face," Sherry says. "This is a social enterprise, it's not a business to create tremendous profit. We wanted to put disability-positive messages out into the world."
For example, you can purchase a tuque with the word "ROLL," or baseball cap with the word "LOVE" embroidered in American Sign Language or Braille. There are "anti-poverty social club" shirts and an "equity for all" hoodie that has a wheelchair illustration. An "animal advocate" line includes images of a dog using a wheelchair and a penguin in a walker. Mothers can purchase a Mamabear shirt.
"They start a conversation," Sherry says. "One of my friends wore her hat to Disney World and said so many people came up to her to comment on its message."
In addition to creating work for Ashley, GoodOnU will help fund the Ontario Disability Coalition, an advocacy group Sherry and Ashley co-founded in 2017. "It's a grassroots organization for people experiencing disability poverty," Sherry says. The group's campaign this March focuses on childhood disability poverty. "Poverty for kids like my daughter with complex medical needs begins at birth," Sherry says. "When a child is extremely fragile, parents may not be able to return to their jobs and caregiving is a full-time job. We see a lot in the news about disability poverty for adults, but Canadians aren't aware of how early on it starts. These kids are forgotten."
GoodOnU was launched last summer and given the pandemic and inflation, it's been a tough go. "As the cost of goods are so high, we've been losing money," Sherry says. "Luckily we received a starter business grant of $3,500 from the City of Richmond Hill which was super helpful, and enabled us to pay our Shopify fees. We had to incorporate because I wanted it to be a social enterprise and there's a lot of bookkeeping. I have many volunteers helping me, including my neighbour and my niece."
Sherry says the family does a "super happy dance" whenever an order comes in. During the holidays GoodOnU started a Buy One Gift One hoodie campaign. Thirty families of children with disabilities who follow the Parent Advocacy Link (PAL) Facebook group in Ontario applied to be a recipient. Hoodies range from $65 to $90. T-shirts are $35 for kids and $40 for adults.
The business is looking for sponsors and disabled artists and authors who may want to partner with it. E-mail Sherry at info@goodonu.ca.
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