Shirley Raines, the Los Angeles nonprofit founder who was known for the immense impact she made in homeless communities, has died at age 58. Raines’ organization Beauty 2 The Streetz shared the sad news of her death.
“Ms. Shirley dedicated her life to serving others and made an immeasurable impact on homeless communities throughout Los Angeles and Nevada,” the nonprofit said in a statement, according to ABC 7 . “Through her tireless advocacy, deep compassion, and unwavering commitment, she used her powerful media platform to amplify the voices of those in need and to bring dignity, resources, and hope to some of the most underserved populations.”
Raines’ twin sister Sheila told TMZ that she died at her home in Henderson, Nevada. She was found unresponsive during a wellness check. Per Sheila, Raines didn’t have any known health issues. The family is now waiting for autopsy results.
Ms. Shirley Raines dedicated to her life to helping the homeless
ABC 7 reported that Raines dedicated her life to providing beauty care, food and showers to the homeless in L.A.’s Skid Row. The Compton native, who experienced her own hurdles, said she was able to relate to the women on Skid Row.
“I’m a woman who actually lived this life in the streets, buried a child, went through traumatic relationships, was almost homeless myself, picked myself up, been working in the medical field for 26 years. I’m still very much ghetto, but I survived that,” Raines said in a 2019 interview, per ABC 7. “I’m able to say, ‘I get it. I understand. But you’ve got to just get through it.'”
She also said she had to earn the the trust of the people she was helping.
“The reality of Skid Row is that it took a long time to earn that trust. I’m asking someone to close their eyes, lay their head back and be vulnerable,” she said in her 2019 interview. “It took years of coming back every single Saturday.”
While working a full time job, the mother of six still managed to come back to her apartment and cook for 600 homeless people every week.
In 2021, Ms. Shirley Raines was named CNN Hero of the Year
At the time, Raines said she felt fortunate to be able to help others despite the challenges she’s faced in her own life.
“This surely hasn’t been easy,” she said. “I stand before you a very broken woman. I am a mother without a son and there are a lot of people in the streets without a mother — and I feel like it’s a fair exchange.”
Raines became a popular personality on social media as she inspired many people with her service to the community. Between Instagram and TikTok, Raines’ organization boasted over six million combined followers, People reported.
“One of the things I wanted to do was change the face of homelessness, and I thought I was going to do that through hair and all these things,” she told People in 2020. “But I soon understood we needed to change the narrative of what ‘homeless’ means. Just because they’re without a home does not mean they’re without love. They are homeless, but a lot of them are not jobless. A lot of them are not kidless, phoneless or familyless. There are many levels of poverty as there are many levels of wealth.”