'When you look good, you feel good': Black hairstylists offer free services to fire victims

Angie Martin was the archetypal lawsuit to get connected Sunday greeting astatine Pasadena City College, wherever a radical of hairstylists and barbers were providing escaped hairsbreadth services for radical affected by the Eaton fire. After fleeing her Altadena location connected the evening of Jan. 7, getting her hairsbreadth done wasn’t apical of mind, but past she learned astir the two-day “Dena Strong” hairsbreadth lawsuit connected the news.

“I started thinking, ‘Oh, my God. How wonderful. How fantastic to beryllium blessed to get my hairsbreadth done,’” said Martin, 60, who got her hairsbreadth washed and blow-dried, dyed achromatic and braided down successful a protective benignant truthful she tin deterioration wigs.

Like galore residents of Altadena, a historically Black vicinity that was decimated by the Eaton fire, Martin expected to instrumentality location connected Jan. 8. Instead, each she has near from her now-scorched flat portion is simply a folder of important documents. She is temporarily surviving successful an Airbnb portion provided by 211 LA, an enactment partnering with Airbnb.org connected the effort, and earlier Sunday, her hairsbreadth was “a mess.”

For Ja’Von Paige, a hairstylist calved and raised successful Altadena, that was a recurring taxable erstwhile talking to members of her ain household who were affected by the firestorm: No one’s hairsbreadth was done.

Ja’Von Paige, left, and Darshell Hannah offered escaped hairsbreadth services and products to victims of the wildfires astatine Pasadena City College.

So, she decided that’s however she would springiness backmost to her community. “Who feels close if their hairsbreadth isn’t done?” said Paige, 33.

Paige connected with Tara Brooks, different stylist who specializes successful braiding, and Darshell Hannah, a personage hairstylist and president of the assemblage work enactment Charlee’s Angels, to big the event. Nearly 250 people, including archetypal responders, attended the event, which received donations from respective businesses including Beyoncé‘s Cécred and Wolfgang Puck.

On Sunday, 44 booths wrong of the college’s cosmetology gathering were filled. Kirk Franklin, a fashionable Black gospel artist, was blasting from the speakers and laughter filled the country arsenic those affected by the fires received hairstyles ranging from container braids to lineups and retwists. In summation to escaped hairsbreadth services, pupil and alumni volunteers from the college’s cosmetology section offered escaped nail and facial services.

“All of america are struggling, and 1 happening astir our hairsbreadth is it’s going to instrumentality immoderate time, and that’s 1 happening I don’t have, clip and capacity,” said Jada Tarvin-Abu-Bekr, 24, a societal idiosyncratic who was receiving braids.

The vigor successful the country was not what 1 mightiness expect from radical who conscionable mislaid everything. (“I’m having much amusive doing it for escaped than erstwhile I usually get paid!” said Davon Parker, 33, a stylist who traveled from San Bernardino to unit the event.) But stylists and clients alike shared that community-organized enactment similar the Dena Strong hairsbreadth lawsuit near them feeling blessed and rejuvenated successful spite of the tragedy.

“It’s been a agelong week, right?” Jonathan Gonzalez said. “So being capable to get a chopped earlier I spell backmost into work, get a facial, spot radical that person experienced what I’ve experienced is truly everything for me.”

“In a clip of crisis, it’s truly casual to absorption lone connected the basal needs, things similar nutrient and shelter, but an facet of affectional betterment is conscionable arsenic vital,” said Nicole Dezrea Jenkins, a visiting adjunct prof of sociology astatine Harvard University. “The salon is offering a unsocial benignant of support. It is restoring assurance and joyousness for radical who person experienced truthful much.”

Jonathan Gonzalez, 33, was getting a haircut erstwhile helium spoke to The Times. On Jan. 7, helium had been moving connected the Palisades occurrence arsenic an technologist with the L.A. County Public Works. By the adjacent day, he’d mislaid 11 properties and an aunt to the Eaton fire.

“It’s been a agelong week, right? So being capable to get a chopped earlier I spell backmost into work, get a facial, spot radical that person experienced what I’ve experienced is truly everything for me,” helium said. “It’s an accidental to benignant of get my caput disconnected everything.”

Kamerin Harrell, who mislaid her location successful the Eaton fire, kisses her daughter, Kassidy, arsenic she waits to person her hairsbreadth styled.

As the second-oldest sibling and eldest brother, Ifeanyi Ezieme, 27, said helium has been precise action-oriented successful helping his household recuperate successful the aftermath of his location burning.

“This is the archetypal time since everything that I’m like, ‘All right, fto maine instrumentality attraction of myself for real,’” helium said.

After some of her parents’ Altadena homes were destroyed successful the Eaton occurrence and aggregate different household members were displaced, salon proprietor Jazmyn Hobdy was searching for ways she could assistance affected Angelenos similar herself. Then 1 of her erstwhile classmates reached retired to her astir hosting a escaped hairsbreadth lawsuit astatine her Glendale salon successful collaboration with Cécred.

“Right now, moving is really the 1 happening that feels normal,” said Hobdy, 32, whose household has lived successful Altadena since the 1970s. Her parents are presently staying with her astatine her location successful the Valley. “It’s the 1 happening that is really bringing maine peace. I truly conscionable emotion doing hair, and I consciousness similar [the event] conscionable made sense.”

Roughly 35 radical attended the Monday lawsuit astatine Extended Beauty Bar, wherever Hobdy and her squad of stylists did an array of services, including lavation and blow-drys, haircuts and trims, silk presses and hairsbreadth extensions. Greeters warmly welcomed clients arsenic they arrived for their appointments. Feel-good euphony played implicit the speakers, portion unit passed retired drinks (mimosas, coffee, beverage and water) and pastries donated by Porto’s Bakery & Cafe, and each impermanent received a goodie container filled with hair-care products.

“It’s not conscionable that their location burned down,” said Hobdy. “There’s truthful galore things to bash close now. People are overwhelmed with what to bash with each this information. Everyone is truthful thankful, but it’s hard to adjacent beryllium and work stuff. Like what bash you bash next? So I wanted to conscionable bring radical retired of their world and benignant of conscionable springiness them that ‘me time.’” She plans to big different escaped hairsbreadth lawsuit successful February and March.

For Kya Bilal, a personage hairstylist whose household location was besides destroyed successful the Eaton fire, doing different people’s hairsbreadth during their clip of request felt therapeutic.

“I conscionable honestly consciousness similar truthful galore radical person been blessing maine that determination was a constituent wherever I’m like, ‘I can’t conscionable beryllium astir and beryllium sad.’ I felt compelled to bash thing more,” said Bilal, who besides works astatine Extended Beauty Bar. She fled Altadena — wherever she’d lived since she was a teen — with her mother, 3-year-old daughter, stepfather, member and 2 pets to Inglewood.

“I can’t truly springiness overmuch close present but my creativity,” she said, adding that she cried respective times during the lawsuit arsenic she connected with different victims, immoderate of whom she knew. “With your hair, erstwhile you look good, you consciousness good, truthful I’ve been doing that for myself. I’ve been getting up, doing my constitution and curling my hair, and I cognize however it’s helping maine to get through, truthful I conscionable felt similar it would assistance different women.”

Although immoderate hairsbreadth events were one-offs, different hairsbreadth salons are offering services for an extended magnitude of clip for occurrence victims. For example, BraidHouse, a quality proviso and braiding salon successful North Hollywood, has been giving retired complimentary wigs and doing escaped protective hairstyling specified arsenic container braids. BraidHouse is besides offering displaced hairsbreadth braiders a escaped abstraction — there’s typically a interest for stylists — to bash hairsbreadth astatine the salon.

Owner Brittney Ogike said these complimentary services volition proceed arsenic agelong arsenic determination is simply a need. People tin marque ongoing appointments via direct connection connected Instagram.

Black barbershops and hairsbreadth salons person ever been much than a spot to simply get your hairsbreadth done. However, their value during times of calamity is accrued successful a tight-knit assemblage similar Altadena.

For Eugene Leo Draine Mahmoud, 45, the Dena Strong lawsuit provided a respite from a week of grueling conversations with his security bureau and FEMA — the second of which was simultaneously operating a catastrophe alleviation money successful the PCC parking lot. The lawsuit was besides an workout successful learning however to person care.

“There’s a quality betwixt the vigor crossed the thoroughfare and successful here,” said Mahmoud, who attended the lawsuit with his woman and 2 kids. “There’s a designation that things instrumentality time, but there’s a antithetic speech successful present astir people’s lives.”