We're in Love! Meet the Glamour Project

by Josie Raymond · 2010-07-27 10:27:00 UTC
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Self-esteem is free, but it's just as often repossessed by homelessness as houses and cars and everything else of material value. What could be more demoralizing than packing up your family and asking strangers for help (and all too often not getting it)?

That's why I love the Glamour Project, a volunteer non-profit effort to remind homeless women in Southern California that they can be beautiful inside and out. Founded by a makeup artist, Evvy Shapero, and a photographer, Kara Fox, the Glamour Project goes to women's shelters, provides free makeovers and before-and-after glamour shots. "I think more so than the makeup, it's the sparkle in the eye, and the smile," Shapero said.

Like similar but less organized efforts to provide free haircuts to the homeless, as blogger Becky Blanton wrote about recently, this makeover aims to instill confidence for job hunting, socializing or just getting through the day. The real challenge comes in follow-up services that can keep that confidence high enough to move someone out of homelessness. Maybe we should institutue, following in the footsteps of the lauded "Housing First" method, a "makeup first" mission, in which homeless women are given makeovers that nudge them toward believeing they can transition. Then come the support services they need.

The Glamour Project also reminds me of another favorite: the Free Photo Project, started by a mom in Oregon to give homeless families free family portraits. Often, it's the only snapshot the family owns. It's individuals and efforts like these that pick up the slack between the bare necessities (food, shelter, clothing) that governmental and non-profit organizations try to provide and those little extra things that make someone feel a part of society. No matter how large the government's budget to end homelessness becomes (ha!), it will never cover Covergirl.

See more great before-and-after shots by clicking on any of the shelter names here and, if you're so inclined, donate to the cause by clicking here.

Photo credit: wei li graphic designer

Josie Raymond is a Change.org editor who has reported from the streets of the South Bronx, written for several magazines that folded (not her fault) and fixed thousands of typos.
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