Photo by Aaron Chung_Beauty Nght
Dignity is Beautiful – Bringing Hope and Laughter to Women in Shelters
Beauty Night Society founder, Caroline MacGillivray founded Beauty Night 15.5 years ago. She was volunteering at Wish Drop in Centre (In Vancouver, BC’s Downtown Eastside) to research an upcoming film role. One night when she was volunteering, a woman came in. “Many of the women experience violence and trauma. She didn’t want to eat, sleep or talk. She just wanted to feel clean, ” Caroline explained. After the woman had a shower, they went through the clothing donations. At the bottom of the clothing box, they found a curling iron. The woman asked if she could use it. Caroline said, “Yes.”
When the woman had difficulty doing her hair, Caroline offered to curl it for her. The woman said, “Okay.” Afterwards the woman gave Caroline a hug and thanked her for “making her feel human.” 8 months later, Caroline held her first Beauty Night. With the help of 14 volunteers offering haircuts, makeup application, manicures, and massage, services were given to 73 participants. That experience flourished into Beauty Night Society.
Beauty Night is an award – winning registered Canadian Charity that provides programs to build self-esteem and change the lives of impoverished women and youth. Beauty Night’s signature program is the life – makeover program. Hundreds of volunteers make it possible to offer wellness and beauty services four nights each week. Offering the programs directly at shelters, transition homes, housing programs, drop in centres, and health care facilities, Beauty Night is able to connect the participants directly to the service providers for health care, shelter, food, and advocacy. Through the relationships with the participants, many have become volunteers and some have found education and employment with Beauty Night’s corporate partners. In 15.5 years, Beauty Night has given 60K makeovers.
To learn more about Beauty Night visit their website at http://beautynight.org