My non-profit organization (opens in new tab) was started during a dark time. I had lost a child a few years earlier and was at a point in my life where I was questioning what I was supposed to be doing with my life. I was looking for a way to give back and gain some understanding of my situation when a friend invited me to serve the homeless with her. It was the missing piece of my puzzle. Oh my God, there are hurting people here, I thought that day.

They ended up being more interested in my hair and makeup than the food and clothes we handed out. I had no intention of starting a nonprofit, but I decided right then and there that I would go back and immediately started providing haircuts, showers, makeovers, and everything else the homeless community in Los Angeles needed to feel good about themselves. Today, Beauty2theStreetz (open in new tab) has about 30 volunteers serving 500 to 800 people each week. They just want to look in the mirror and see something beautiful. Who doesn't?

With the coronavirus pandemic, we are also helping to educate. On Skid Row, where we operate, people are panicking because they don't have access to information. There is no TV, no news on smart phones. They cannot wash their hands and many are HIV positive or immunocompromised. We are trying to be proactive while keeping our distance by providing them with hand sanitizer donated by the toothpaste company Bite (opens in new tab). We usually cook for them, but since the grocery store is out of stock and people are running out of staples, we buy them McDonald's instead.

The homeless community has long been invisible. But once this virus affects them, everyone in the world will see them. Sixty thousand people will flood Los Angeles County hospitals. They would no longer be invisible.

I am a strong advocate for mental health, especially in the black community. I have my own priorities. Bringing these stories, all the loss and heartbreak home from the streets is overwhelming. And when I turned 50, I was no longer able to do what I had been able to overcome mentally just by eating right, exercising, and dieting. For whatever reason, as I get older, my body needs some help to stay stable. We are told to pray, but prayer must be assisted by something else. Pray and take therapy. I pray and take my meds. Right now I take an antidepressant every morning. That is my own form of self-care.

This is a difficult time, but I think of my NPO as a marriage: in sickness and in health, until death do us part. In sickness and in health, until death do us part. The good day will come again when we can wash their hair, do their nails, and give them hugs. Now is the time to hold on.

To support the Raines' work, visit beauty2thestreetz.org (opens in new tab).

This article originally appeared in the Summer 2020 issue of Marie Claire.

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