Shirley Raines offers makeovers, food and showers to homeless people in Los Angeles.

Raines initially started her volunteer work by serving food to the homeless on Skid Row with another organization. She noticed that a lot of the women seeking support would ask questions about her hair and makeup.

“As we passed out food, the women were more interested in my hair color and my makeup. And they used to compliment me, going ‘oh my god, we love your makeup’ or ‘we love your hair color’ or ‘you smell so good’.” Raines told Insider.

This eventually led Raines to establish her own organization, Beauty2TheStreetz, dedicated to helping the female houseless population in Los Angeles. The Long Beach native takes the time to travel to Los Angeles and prepares food for 400-600 people every weekend while working full-time and being a mother of six.

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One of the most challenging things for us trying to help the homeless with makeup is NOT having the shades for everyone’s skin color. Darker shades are so hard to come by but thanks to @blackradiancebeauty and their donations we were able to hook the ladies of skid row up yesterday ???????? Stitches pull your wound together…allows the skin to grow back as one. MAKEUP helps pull the homeless women together! Helps heal their wounds through beauty, self care and love! #humaninterest #respect #stayhumble #wefeedthehungry #mentalhealth #helpingothers #helpingthehomeless #skidrow #payitforward #nonprofit #change #people #worldhunger #wakeupandmakeup #help #humanity #donate #hoodlove #dotherightthing #ghetto #endhunger #themarathoncontinues #beauty2thestreetz #helpinghands #streetlife

A post shared by Shirley Raines (@beauty2thestreetz) on Jun 2, 2019 at 8:42am PDT

“When the women sit in the chair I show them the mirror as the process is going on. You should see their face change and their smile. They light up.” she told Insider. “Feeling good is the first step to healing.”

Raines is a perfect example of combining a skill set with compassion to help those who have fallen on hard times.

For ways to get involved follow Shirley Raines on Instagram @beauty2thestreetz.

Shirley-Raines

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