Shirley Raines Is Bringing Beauty to the Homeless in L.A.

Shirley Raines.
Photo: Texas Isaiah/Copyright 2021. All rights reserved.

Black Beauty Matters: Celebrating Black excellence and influence in beauty.

Self-care is, by definition, typically and selfishly meant to be about caring for one’s self. In its purest form — rid of bogus, wallet-draining products that often serve capitalism more than the soul — self-care allows room for blissful and intentional heeding to whatever (and whomever) serves your spirit. But for Shirley Raines, founder of Beauty 2 the Streetz, a Los Angeles–based nonprofit serving the homeless community, self-care is decidedly selfless.

For Ms. Shirley, as the community she’s now served for six years calls her, self-care is a daily action that culminates in a weekly Saturday service. The gathering is one in which she asks unhoused individuals on Skid Row a simple, oft-desired question: “What do you want?”

Photo: Texas Isaiah/Copyright 2021. All rights reserved.

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