An interview with @BeautyNight

My good friend Caroline McGillivray is the founder of Beauty Night, an amazing charitable organization that builds self-esteem in women in the Downtown East Side of Vancouver by providing them with free makeovers. Caroline and I have been good friends for a few years but I never had interviewed her to learn more about Beauty Night, so I fired her a few questions recently.

Raul – Caroline, I first knew of Beauty Night even before you and I became friends. I saw an article in the Vancouver Sun about your project and I thought it was amazing. Then we became friends and got to know a bit more about it. For my readers, could you please give us a bit of background as to why did you initiate Beauty Night?

Caroline – Thank you, Raul! Beauty Night was the outcome of my volunteer experience at WISH Drop In Centre. WISH provides meals, onsite nursing and many programs for women who are survival sex workers. Most women who become survival sex workers have experienced physical or sexual violence before the age of 18. The average age of entry into street life is 14yrs of age in Canada; 12 in BC. One night, one of the women who participate in WISH’s programs had had a bad day. She attempting to curl her hair. When I saw that she was getting frustrated by not being able to do so, I offered to help. She agreed. When she left she had an extra bounce in her step. I wondered what it would be like to do that on a larger scale to reach more women.

I spoke to the volunteer coordinator of WISH and proposed a Beauty Night for the women. With WISH’s support, we held the first Beauty Night Dec 15th, 2000. 73 participated. 14 volunteers. We provided hair cuts, manicures, skin cleansing, warm clothing and healthy snacks. When I asked for feedback, I realized how many of the participants did not have too much experience with positive touch. Most of the time they were used to people touching the because someone wanted something from them or would avoid touching them.

Why did I initiate Beauty Night? Originally because I knew how great I felt after getting a hair cut or a mini facial. I wanted to bring that to the women. Once we did our first event, I realized what we were doing was a lot bigger than I had conceptualized. Healthy touch and wellness is imperative to our well being. Babies who are not touched will die. Seniors are encouraged to have contact with living beings such as a pet to lower their blood pressure. 90% of women who end up in prison or correctional facilities have experienced.sexual violence/abuse before that age of 18. According to Anmesty International: At least one out of every three women has been beaten, forced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Many women who have experienced negative touch blame themselves. Through Beauty Night and connecting our participants to our partner organizations (that provide food, shelter, addiction services and much more), we are able to create a safe space for women to be themeselves, make friends and leave feeling good about who they are. When people feel good, they believe anything is possible.

Beauty Night is a community where we have like-minded talented volunteers, staff, contributors and participants who work together to foster healthy self esteem and self determination. 11 000 makeovers in the last 9.5 years thanks to over 400 volunteers! On a personal note, I love Beauty Night. I like having a venue for people to participate and see a direct result from their skill and effort. I believe it is empowering to all that are involved.

1/3 of our participants are mothers with children, 1/3 are seniors, 1/3 survival sex workers. We have evolved our life makeover program to include:

• Creation station: fusion of literacy, arts & crafts, personal developement
• Yoga/stretch classes.
• Child Minding & children programming
• Makeovers – healthcare & beauty practitioners volunteer their services.

Raul – I have a lot of clothing that could go to males and it’s in
perfectly good condition. Have you thought of creating, say, “Beauty
Night” for Men (of course, we don’t usually use makeup that much!)

Caroline – I think healthy touch and programs that build self- esteem are beneficial to men and women. Our board is working on developing a template for Beauty Night so we can reach more women, youth and men around the world. We are hoping to have that template developed by 2012. Our bylaws are set up so we can offer programming to men. We have done beauty night for men and street youth (up to age 29). Events have included hair cuts, air brush tatoos, relaxation massage, stretch classes and yoga (beneficial for men living with Hep C), hand scrubs, foot care (pedicures), and much more.

We have a Beauty Night coming up in August at Gathering Place Street Fair. If you are able to drop the clothing off at our booth, we are more than happy to hand it out. For many not for profits, it is difficult to store clothing. It is hard due to lack of storage space and bed bug infestation. We encourage people who would like to donate clothing to:

a) Contact our organization to arrange to drop it off on a day we are doing programs. Usually no more than a garbage bag at a time. Clothing must be clean and gently used – current – within the last two years. Things like underwear and socks are needed.

b) Do a clothing swap with like minded individuals, possibly sell some of the clothing and donate the proceeds to us.

c) Consign or sell the clothing at a consignment store, EBay, or Craigslist and donate the proceeds to the organization.

Raul – What would be the necessary steps for people to help Beauty Night grow – what does Beauty Night need now, in terms of funding, or in terms of volunteers, etc.?

Caroline – For Beauty Night to continue achieving it’s mission (to build self esteem, change lives) we need help creating a sustainable model. Thanks to our contributors and volunteers we are able to run a $280 000 program on a shoe string budget. With our 10 year anniversary celebration coming up in December 15th, we are looking for more volunteers to participate and contributors to support. Part of the celebration will be our annual Xmas Stocking Drive. Local Designer Nancy Perrault will be designing an Xmas STocking. Dressew donated the fabric. We will be asking sewers and textile classes to sew the stockings, brownie/sparks/girl guide groups to decorate them and for sponsors to fill them. We are looking for money to continue our programs and to fill those xmas stockings, people to connect us to people who might be able to help, and people who might be interesting in investing in changing the lives of many.

Thanks Caroline for sharing some of your insights into Beauty Night!