“I started thinking, ‘Oh, my God. How wonderful. How wonderful to be blessed to get my hair done,’” stated Martin, 60, who received her hair washed and blow-dried, dyed black and braided down in a protecting fashion so she will put on wigs.
Like many residents of Altadena, a traditionally Black neighborhood that was decimated by the Eaton hearth, Martin anticipated to return house on Jan. 8. As a substitute, all she has left from her now-scorched condo unit is a folder of necessary paperwork. She is briefly dwelling in an Airbnb unit offered by 211 LA, a corporation partnering with Airbnb.org on the trouble, and earlier than Sunday, her hair was “a mess.”
For Ja’Von Paige, a hairstylist born and raised in Altadena, that was a recurring theme when speaking to members of her family who have been affected by the firestorm: Nobody’s hair was carried out.
Ja’Von Paige, left, and Darshell Hannah provided free hair companies and merchandise to victims of the wildfires at Pasadena Metropolis School.
So, she determined that’s how she would give again to her neighborhood. “Who feels right if their hair isn’t done?” stated Paige, 33.
Paige linked with Tara Brooks, one other stylist who makes a speciality of braiding, and Darshell Hannah, a star hairstylist and president of the neighborhood service group Charlee’s Angels, to host the occasion. Almost 250 individuals, together with first responders, attended the occasion, which acquired donations from a number of companies together with Beyoncé‘s Cécred and Wolfgang Puck.
On Sunday, 44 booths inside of the college’s cosmetology constructing have been stuffed. Kirk Franklin, a preferred Black gospel artist, was blasting from the audio system and laughter stuffed the room as these affected by the fires acquired hairstyles starting from field braids to lineups and retwists. Along with free hair companies, pupil and alumni volunteers from the school’s cosmetology division provided free nail and facial companies.
“All of us are struggling, and one thing about our hair is it’s going to take some time, and that’s one thing I don’t have, time and capacity,” stated Jada Tarvin-Abu-Bekr, 24, a social employee who was receiving braids.
The vitality within the room was not what one may count on from individuals who simply misplaced every little thing. (“I’m having more fun doing it for free than when I normally get paid!” stated Davon Parker, 33, a stylist who traveled from San Bernardino to employees the occasion.) However stylists and shoppers alike shared that community-organized help like the Dena Robust hair occasion left them feeling blessed and rejuvenated regardless of the tragedy.
“It’s been a long week, right?” Jonathan Gonzalez stated. “So being able to get a cut before I go back into work, get a facial, see people that have experienced what I’ve experienced is really everything for me.”
“In a time of crisis, it’s really easy to focus only on the basic needs, things like food and shelter, but an aspect of emotional recovery is just as vital,” stated Nicole Dezrea Jenkins, a visiting assistant professor of sociology at Harvard College. “The salon is offering a unique kind of support. It is restoring confidence and joy for people who have experienced so much.”
Jonathan Gonzalez, 33, was getting a haircut when he spoke to The Occasions. On Jan. 7, he had been engaged on the Palisades hearth as an engineer with the L.A. County Public Works. By the subsequent day, he’d misplaced 11 properties and an aunt to the Eaton hearth.
“It’s been a long week, right? So being able to get a cut before I go back into work, get a facial, see people that have experienced what I’ve experienced is really everything for me,” he stated. “It’s an opportunity to kind of get my mind off everything.”
Kamerin Harrell, who misplaced her home within the Eaton hearth, kisses her daughter, Kassidy, as she waits to have her hair styled.
Because the second-oldest sibling and eldest brother, Ifeanyi Ezieme, 27, stated he has been very action-oriented in serving to his household recuperate within the aftermath of his house burning.
“This is the first day since everything that I’m like, ‘All right, let me take care of myself for real,’” he stated.
After each of her dad and mom’ Altadena properties have been destroyed within the Eaton hearth and a number of different relations have been displaced, salon proprietor Jazmyn Hobdy was trying to find methods she might assist affected Angelenos like herself. Then one in every of her former classmates reached out to her about internet hosting a free hair occasion at her Glendale salon in collaboration with Cécred.
Hairstylists and barbers from throughout L.A. are providing free hair companies and merchandise to victims of the wildfires.
“Right now, working is actually the one thing that feels normal,” stated Hobdy, 32, whose household has lived in Altadena because the Seventies. Her dad and mom are presently staying along with her at her house within the Valley. “It’s the one thing that is actually bringing me peace. I really just love doing hair, and I feel like [the event] just made sense.”
Roughly 35 individuals attended the Monday occasion at Prolonged Magnificence Bar, the place Hobdy and her crew of stylists did an array of companies, together with wash and blow-drys, haircuts and trims, silk presses and hair extensions. Greeters warmly welcomed shoppers as they arrived for his or her appointments. Really feel-good music performed over the audio system, whereas employees handed out drinks (mimosas, espresso, tea and water) and pastries donated by Porto’s Bakery & Cafe, and every visitor acquired a goodie bag crammed with hair-care merchandise.
“It’s not just that their house burned down,” stated Hobdy. “There’s so many things to do right now. People are overwhelmed with what to do with all this information. Everyone is so thankful, but it’s hard to even sit and read stuff. Like what do you do next? So I wanted to just bring people out of their reality and kind of just give them that ‘me time.’” She plans to host one other free hair occasion in February and March.
For Kya Bilal, a star hairstylist whose household house was additionally destroyed within the Eaton hearth, doing different individuals’s hair throughout their time of want felt therapeutic.
“I just honestly feel like so many people have been blessing me that there was a point where I’m like, ‘I can’t just sit around and be sad.’ I felt compelled to do something more,” stated Bilal, who additionally works at Prolonged Magnificence Bar. She fled Altadena — the place she’d lived since she was an adolescent — along with her mom, 3-year-old daughter, stepfather, brother and two pets to Inglewood.
“I can’t really give much right now but my creativity,” she stated, including that she cried a number of instances in the course of the occasion as she linked with different victims, a few of whom she knew. “With your hair, when you look good, you feel good, so I’ve been doing that for myself. I’ve been getting up, doing my makeup and curling my hair, and I know how it’s helping me to get through, so I just felt like it would help other women.”
Though some hair occasions have been one-offs, different hair salons are providing companies for an prolonged period of time for hearth victims. For instance, BraidHouse, a magnificence provide and braiding salon in North Hollywood, has been giving out complimentary wigs and doing free protecting hairstyling akin to field braids. BraidHouse can also be providing displaced hair braiders a free area — there’s sometimes a price for stylists — to do hair on the salon.
Proprietor Brittney Ogike stated these complimentary companies will proceed so long as there’s a want. Individuals could make ongoing appointments through direct message on Instagram.
Black barbershops and hair salons have at all times been greater than a spot to easily get your hair carried out. Nonetheless, their significance throughout instances of tragedy is elevated in a tight-knit neighborhood like Altadena.
For Eugene Leo Draine Mahmoud, 45, the Dena Robust occasion offered a respite from per week of grueling conversations together with his insurance coverage company and FEMA — the latter of which was concurrently working a catastrophe reduction fund within the PCC parking zone. The occasion was additionally an train in studying the right way to obtain care.
“There’s a difference between the energy across the street and in here,” stated Mahmoud, who attended the occasion together with his spouse and two children. “There’s a recognition that things take time, but there’s a different conversation in here about people’s lives.”