Beauty to the Rescue

When disaster-related events top news feeds or the nightly news, they often include counts—the number of people who perished, the number of those who’ve lost their homes, and the number of those without power or water.  

When facing so much loss, the last thing those victims think about is their missed hair appointment, but the fact is that salons, spas, and barbershops frequently are among the first small businesses to step up and help their communities. Because almost all salons have on-site laundry, and spas have showers and facial or massage beds, they can offer support in unexpected ways. In addition, these businesses are service-based, so helping people comes naturally to stylists, barbers, and estheticians.  

A Respite for First Responders

After hijacked planes took down the Twin Towers and resulted in the loss of 2,753 on 9/11, it was weeks before Richard and Joyce Calcasola could return to their Maximus Spa & Salon, which had opened just the month before in SOHO. “It was such a traumatic time for all Americans, but particularly for those who lived and worked in downtown Manhattan,” Joyce remembers. “Anytime you looked downtown, you could see smoke rise for miles and miles.” 

Once the couple was allowed back into their business, they immediately reopened the spa, offering refuge to first responders working to recover victims and clear debris at Ground Zero. “We offered our showers so they could wash off and our massage tables so they could grab a quick rest, and of course, we offered complimentary haircuts.” 

A Place to Wash, Rest, and Regroup

Six months after Brittany Craig opened her expanded Craigfield’s Hair Studio and Salon in Arden, North Carolina, Hurricane Helene struck, leaving many in the community facing road closures, as well as loss of communications, water, and power. The first thing Craig did once the road to her home was cleared was drive to her employees’ homes to check that they were safe. Then, she checked her business and was relieved to see that not a drop of water had crossed the threshold.  

“Miraculously, the salon still had running water, while 99% of the community did not, and after a few days it had power,” she says. “Communications were still down, but the radio station was broadcasting. I contacted the station, and they put out an alert that we were making our washers and dryers available to the community, and we’d do complimentary shampoos and blowdrys while they waited,” she says.  

The salon was immediately booked with two days of appointments, and the salon ended up doing laundry, shampoos, and blowouts for 10 hours a day for four days straight. “It became a place for people to gather, exchange news and resources, and share stories—everyone was hungry for community,” she remembers. “We met some amazing people, many of whom became new clients.” 

Healing Hands in the Hardest Moments

On May 24, 2022, a school shooter killed 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas. At the time, Cookie Zamarripa was an established barber in Austin, Texas, but Uvalde was her hometown. 

Gathering fellow barbers and stylists, Zamarripa spearheaded a UvaldeStrong# free haircutting event on May 30^th to give back to the mourning community, many of whom were planning or attending funerals in the coming days. 

While there, Zamarripa was also asked to cut the hair of some of the victims before they were laid to rest. 

(Read more about Cookie Zamarripa.)

When Beauty Becomes Relief

When Hurricane Ian left many residents without power and working to clean up fallen trees and debris in their yards during high temperatures, Black Sheep Salon in Jensen, Florida, invited those without power in for complimentary Wash and Go services. 

Because the salon also had air conditioning, Operations Manager Tatjana Woody said guests were lingering, so they offered a few specials, including $50 facials and $100 keratin treatments. 

“Our phone immediately started blowing up, and we filled up with appointments for that day and the next,” she says.

Giving Back, One Service at a Time

When a debilitating fire wiped out the entire town of Lahaina on Maui in 2023, California-based Salon Owner Sherry Bennett was desperate to reach out to her friend Jenny Brew, who lived there. Bennett told Brew she’d like to help in any way she could, offering money and supplies. 

Brew responded, “I think the best thing you could do is come and work your hair magic, just not right now.” 

Six months later, Bennett traveled to Maui with shears in hand, and through networking, the friends met Shalom Costa, who was running a local clinic at the Royal Hotel called the Maui Medic Healers Hui. Working alongside Costa and others who were volunteering their time and services, Bennett set up a makeshift salon for the next two weeks. 

(Read Bennett's blog about her experience.)

“As they sat in my chair, these people would talk, sharing their harrowing stories of how they’d escaped the flames but lost everything,” Bennett says.  

But what most of her new clients wanted to know was why she’d traveled so far to help people she didn’t know. She told them, “For the past 30 years, I’ve come from the mainland to enjoy the islands, and now is the time to give back. Cutting hair is what I know how to do, so that’s what I’m doing.”

Community Offerings  

In January 2025, as wildfires burned through Los Angeles County, the outpouring of support from community members, businesses, and institutions was immediate and overwhelming. In addition to attending to the immediate survival requirements of shelter, clothing, and food, the offerings also acknowledged the devastating emotional and physical toll a disaster can take on its victims and its heroes. 

Across the county, barbershops and hair salons, as well as yoga studios, art centers, and wellness spaces, opened their doors to offer complimentary services and restorative classes. These ranged from free pottery classes to complimentary family portraits, from passes to movie screenings to open invitations to co-working spaces and their invaluable Wi-Fi hookups. (There were constant service interruptions and power shutoffs in the community after the fire).  

The Instagram account @stylistsofla kept an ongoing list of salons providing washes and blowdrys for evacuees and first responders. And if you jumped into the comments, you would see many salons signing up and stylists raising their hands.   

“Sometimes a good haircut can be transformative. It can lift a huge weight off our shoulders,” Bennett concludes. “In a symbolic way, maybe, it’s an outward sign of change that can be a real morale booster, no matter what’s going on in our lives.”