(children chattering) - I'm Victoria McLean, and our company is Little Feet, Big Dreams.

(bright music) I'm the owner, the founder.

I pretty much do it all.

Maybe jellyfish too.

That'd be cute, huh?

- [Maddison] Oh, that'd be so cool.

- That's what it's missing.

- Little Feet, Big Dreams is a nonprofit.

We sell and paint shoes for kids in need and for kids that just want some shoes to have.

- We're all using blue, aren't we?

- Yeah.

- And we honestly, we didn't plan to all do something blue.

I started painting shoes in 2018 just as a supplemental income.

We lost a family member.

It does choke me up, but I love talking about my brother, Casey.

He was everybody's greatest friend but then also the best brother, the best son, the best uncle.

Literally my best friend, my only brother, who's two years older than me.

One thing about him is family was everything for Casey.

His daughter was the first pair of shoes I painted for.

And at her birthday party when she received them, everybody was, "Oh my gosh, you have to start selling these, you have to."

And so that's when I started selling 'em actually.

Casey had a traumatic brain injury from a work accident, and after so much time, it took his life.

A year after, I kind of was struggling just really understanding why, you know, why that it happened.

And I learned about art therapy and I started using it for myself with the shoes and then ran a promotion at the two-year of his passing to give them away for free.

And the need was heavy.

So just through that, I was encouraged to start a nonprofit, and we've just been running ever since, so started as my passion, to hobby, to helping others.

I mean, they both would be perfect.

Neither of them are wrong.

We're using art for social impact, so it's kind of no pressure at all when you're creating something.

It could be anything.

- Right now on both the sides, I'm just gonna make, like, a little rainbow.

- I have three kids.

I have Parker, Maddison, and Alice.

- [Maddison] It's been really fun to do.

- And I might put some sand at the bottom.

- I really like that she includes us with it.

- It's really great that I've had the kids help me.

It's like a sense of pride and gratefulness to have them be interested as well and see them be excited.

- It's really nice to do it with her because she's very encouraging.

She's very kind and loving.

If we make a mistake, she'll help us with it and she guides us through what we need help with.

- The laces are fun.

When they were little, I would just get them shoes that they could paint, so they were next to me and learning.

But now they do help paint base colors.

- So it really has brought us closer.

- [Alice] We're actually doing something, like, we're being productive and doing stuff together.

- [Maddison] I really like painting, like, sunsets.

- It's a creative outlet that keeps your mind distracted when you're going through something or you're trying to heal something in your brain.

And then after it's been created, we're giving it away so it's helping somebody else as well, so it's good on both sides.

It turned out great, maybe one big one here and a couple babies.

- The bottom is kind of like the sea.

- It makes me really happy just knowing that we were able to help someone else.

- Thank you.

- [Alice] I know that other kids like receiving presents like I do.

It makes me feel happy because they get to wear some shoes on their feet.

- [Maddison] It's, like, handmade, so it's, like, made with love.

- I mean, as a single mom, there's been so many times in life that I've needed help from the community.

So when I was just feeling so heavy for my brother, I made a post on Facebook and then people had been messaging me on there.

And so I added it to the website, and it just created a waiting list.

Our website is ArtAltruistic.com.

Through that website, you can choose to sign up, there's a Little Feet, Big Dreams section, and you just fill out the form, and it'll just send an email to me.

With this whole experience, mental health has been more of a topic of discussion and how important it is to just take care of your mind.

And so I've seen how great it's impacted our family before and after all of this.

- It just, it makes my heart so happy.

You know, knowing that us or a family member was able to help another person.

I know if I needed a pair of shoes and I received that, it'd make me really happy.

- [Victoria] It's an essential item, you have to have shoes, and they're good-quality shoes.

So I think it's definitely making a good social impact, using art for that.

- [Maddison] If you give back to your community, it can, like, come back to you.

- It's fun, and I feel like I can help kids express how they feel, and I can help myself express how I feel.

- I just love it.

I love it.

Even if I'm known as, like, the painted shoe girl or lady, you know, I love it.

My brother, Casey, he would be jumping up and down.

I mean, he would be so proud.

He really would.

He is like, he was, like, everybody's best cheerleader.

Yeah.

(gentle music)