Your basic inspirational TV movie based on a true story. Loretta (Elise) is black, poor, partially blind, and mildly retarded. She's mercilessly teased until a grade-school teacher (Palk) interests the young Loretta in running. But it's not until she's a teenager that Loretta finds her own cheerleader--social worker Janet McFarland (Manheim) who signs the girl up to participate in the Special Olympics.