STREAM Kids Expo offers free spa day
A hairstyle can help with looks and confidence, and a STREAM Kids Expo helped several young girls get their hair professionally styled with a full salon treatment.
On Sunday, STREAM Kids Expo partnered with Tresor Salon and Spa to hold the first Glamming Kids For Success event, where young girls had their hair done for free.
Niamani Knight, founder of STREAM, said the Glamming Kids event is a spinoff of their Grooming Kids for Success event last year, which was initially intended for boys, but had many young girls participate. Knight said after the event she realized there was a need for events like it specifically for girls to help bolster their self-confidence.
“Our main goal is to promote education, entrepreneurship and careers, and you can’t get kids to those points if they don’t feel confident in themselves,” Knight said. “Kids need to feel special, and that there’s someone in (their) corner rooting for them.”
Knight reached out to Fostering Youth Independence and Single Mothers Outreach to offer the event’s services, and Knight said all 30 spots were filled within two days.
Lynda Brierly, owner of Tresor Salon, said she was happy to open up her salon for the day because, when she volunteered for the Grooming Kids event, she noticed that the barbershop did not have shampoo bowls or other equipment necessary to give girls the full salon experience.
“I’m fortunate to be able to get my hair done whenever I want, so I know how special that feels, and I want kids to be able to experience that, too,” Brierly said. “You hair is an extension of how you look, and if your hair is a mess, you don’t feel as good. When I was growing up, I didn’t know how to do my hair, and neither did my mom, so when I got on the school bus, kids would make fun of me. So, if we can fix a little girl’s hair and make her feel a little better, then it’s all worth it.”
Ailyn Delgadillo had her hair styled and said she was comforted to know there are organizations like STREAM that are looking out for kids.
“For many women, especially women of color, our hair is part of what defines us, so hair care is important and helps our self-esteem,” Delgadillo said. “It’s important to have events for kids because it’s when we’re children that we define how we view our world and see what it’s really like. And to know there are events like this is comforting and makes the world seem just a bit more perfect.”
Doreen Smart, a former Santa Clarita resident who now lives in Bishop, drove 250 miles to volunteer and style hair for Glamming Kids when her friend Shannon Traweek, a stylist at Tresor, asked her to help out.
“Kids are the future, and they especially need events like this to know how important they are,” Smart said.
“Kids need to know there’s goodness in the world and that there are people in the world who will do things without a dollar sign attached or some ulterior motive.”