Grand Valley State University student Michael Hyacinthe created a program to connect wounded veterans with designers and business leaders to help them fulfill their creative and entrepreneurial goals. Hyacinthe’s program, “Fashion Has Heart,” will bring five wounded veterans from various places of the country to Grand Rapids this week.

The program will introduce the veterans to a senior designer for footwear manufacturer Wolverine World Wide, who will help them produce a boot design. Each design will be made and given to the veteran who designed it, and another pair will be entered in ArtPrize. The veterans will also meet Rick DeVos to talk about his StartGarden program, and a professional graphic designer to create a T-shirt design. The T-shirts will also be part of ArtPrize and will be sold during the competition.