July 26, 2024

Cloré Beauty Supply’s Donation of Product Helps YWC Clients Care for their Hair & Connect with their Identities

Last December, Cloré Beauty Supply donated $1000 towards Black History Month programming at St. Joe’s Youth Wellness Centre. After learning more about the Centre and the care St. Joe’s provides to youth in our community, the premier retailer of wigs, extensions and hair care products wanted to do even more. So last week they popped by the Youth Wellness Centre with their arms loaded up with bright pink bags packed with donated hair and beauty products.  

These items will stock up the YWC’s Take What You Need Basket, which provides service users with free personal care products, nutritious food items, hats and mittens for cold weather, and more of life’s little necessities that can sometimes be hard to come by. Being able to access the items they need in a dignifying manner, at no-cost and in an accessible location helps to ensure the youth accessing services at the YWC have what they need to support them in their wellness journeys.   

Cloré Beauty Representative, Kayla Chin, shared that this donation was motivated by the desire to make the beauty supplies that BIPOC youth need more accessible to them.  

“Ensuring that beauty and hair care products are accessible to Black and Indigenous youth in the Hamilton community is aligned with Cloré’s mission is to “support each other so that we can build an inclusive community.” We pride ourselves on providing Black women in Hamilton with a space where they feel seen,” Chin says. “To date, the majority of our community initiatives have taken place within Toronto, but we understand that there is also a need for support and representation with the Hamilton Community as well and are happy to work with organizations like St. Joseph’s to expand our reach!” 

As a part of the donation drop-off, YWC Counsellor Téana Vickers organized a group of service users to come together for a mini ‘focus-group’, reflecting on the important role customized hair and beauty products play in feeling connected to their BIPOC identities.  

YWC service user and focus group attendee Faith shared, “Black hair care can feel niche, but it is very important to the identity of BIPOC people. It is nice to come here (YWC) and know there is something here for me. I am really happy this connection between the YWC and Cloré Beauty exists.” 

The YWC prides itself on offering culturally sensitive and gender inclusive programming to support BIPOC and 2SLGBTQSAI+ communities who often experience racism, trauma, exclusion, and mental health challenges related to the intersection of their identities. YWC Counsellors find that a component of providing that culturally sensitive care is having conversations with youth about how self-care can connect them to their BIPOC identity and community.  

“For many Black, Indigenous and racialized folks, hair is deeply connected to culture and identity, and unfortunately many youth face barriers to caring for and embracing their hair,” says Téana. “As a Peer Support Provider in the YouThrive Program, I support youth in their wellness journeys which includes connecting with culture and identity. Drawing from my own lived-experience, I support youth in their hair journeys both emotionally by having conversations about culture, microaggressions, etc., and practically by sharing tips and resources.” 

Service user Kayla has benefitted from the YouThrive program, sharing, “I’m biracial and didn’t know how to take care of my hair, and students at my high school bullied be for it. In our peer support sessions, Téana would talk about this stuff, look up black hair salons to go to, and help me and other peers like me that come to the YWC who don’t know anything about their hair texture.” 

These conversations, combined with resources like Cloré Beauty Supply products, do not go unnoticed by service users. “It is hard to find spaces that understand Black identity. The YWC, specifically their support groups, consider what Black kids are thinking and feeling. Coming here, I feel like we are a first thought, not a second thought,” shared Faith.  

Friend and fellow service user Grace agreed, stating “The YWC has connected me with not only these Cloré Beauty products, but with people who can really relate to me. Before coming here, I didn’t have friends who could relate to my experience caring for textured hair. It is nice to know I am not alone, and I feel more confident having these connections.”