Catholic model with Down syndrome shares story of faith, forgiveness that inspired her career

Grace Strobel is a 29-year-old speaker, advocate, and model who travels around the country raising awareness for those with disabilities. Ahead of World Down Syndrome Day on March 21, Zeale News had the opportunity to interview Grace and her mother Linda about the incredible story of faith and forgiveness behind her advocacy work and modeling career.

In 2017, Grace and Linda were working in a high school cafeteria when a group of students called Grace over and asked her to open their milk cartons.

“Having Down syndrome — I really have to work hard at my dexterity,” Grace wrote. “Those kinds of tasks are harder for me, but I can do them.”

Linda also approached and asked the group if she could help, but Grace said the students pointed at her, started laughing, and said, “‘No, we want her to help us… because we know she can’t do it.”

As she realized the students were mocking her, Grace began to feel ill.

“I started to feel sick, like I was going to throw up,” she wrote. “I felt dizzy. My face went white. The lunchroom was always a loud place, but now all the sounds seemed to mix together into a roar. I ran back to the kitchen. The world blurred, I felt the tears well up inside of me and I burst out crying.”

Though it was just a brief interaction, it cut her deeply. Grace had faced ostracism before, but for the first time in her life, she felt hated.

“When you make fun of someone, it only takes a few seconds.” she wrote. “For the kids laughing at me, it was over. For me, it wasn’t over.”

Grace added that her mom helped her try to work through her pain.

“She told me sometimes people are afraid of what they don’t understand…. Maybe I could help them understand. I had made presentations before. Maybe I could make one about Down syndrome. I wanted to make a difference.”

Enter TheGraceEffect

That was the beginning of TheGraceEffect, a presentation that Linda and Grace have taken to schools all over the country that teaches children about the challenges people with disabilities face and how to treat those people with respect.

“I also wanted to show how you can change someone’s life just by being kind and giving respect,” Grace wrote. “I challenge students to look beyond what they see and seek kindness, respect, and dignity for all individuals.”

The Catholic faith was a key part of the inspiration behind the presentation — and Grace’s path of healing and forgiveness.

“Our faith is everything to us, and it is our moral compass,” Linda wrote. “It is the lens with which we look through life. Jesus taught compassion, empathy and love above all things. We are all created in God’s image. How can you say you are a Christian or a Catholic and not see the dignity and worth in each individual — and as well, treat people with dignity, worth, and respect?”

Forgiveness: The perfect way of healing

Forgiveness, Grace and Linda said, is “God’s perfect way for anyone who has been hurt to start healing.”

“When you forgive, you can move forward,” they wrote. “You won’t change the past or what happened, but you will change your future. There will always be people who fear the unknown or who are unable to walk in another’s shoes for understanding, but you have the power to believe in who you are and feel good about yourself.”

While Grace was researching TheGraceEffect, she came across Australian model Madeline Stuart, who like Grace has Down syndrome. Grace showed her mom the pictures and asked if she could be a model, too.

“So she hired fashion photographer Trenna Travis to do a lifestyle photoshoot. My mom posted the photos to Facebook and they went viral,” Grace wrote. “The photos had 220,000 shares within the first 2 weeks, and they went international.”

Her modeling career took off from there. When she started modeling for Obagi in 2020, she became the first model with Down syndrome to represent a skincare line. Grace has been featured in Forbes and Allure, and made appearances on the “Today” show and “Good Morning America.”

Grace’s story is amazing proof that pain can be turned into purpose, and that forgiveness is always possible.

“I know that I can be strong and be a champion of hope and resiliency,” she said. “I was once wounded by being made fun of, and now it feels incredible to turn hurt into purpose. I love that I get a chance to break down barriers, change perceptions, and seek understanding and respect.”