Beauty Night Society » addiction

Beautiful Ideas

Caroline — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 21:59:28 +0000

Addiction: “physical or psychological dependence on psychoactive substances.” So says the dictionary. When beginning to volunteer with a population with addiction concerns, its tempting to generalize ‘dependent’ to describe the character of people with addiction – after all, many people with addictions are in need of food and housing support. However, I discovered at Beauty Night just how incorrect the generalization of dependence is.
Beauty Night provides beauty and wellness services to women in the downtown eastside, “building self-esteem and changing lives.” One night I was chatting with women as they waited for haircuts. Darlene seemed particularly nervous about her haircut and we chatted on a range of topics. Towards the end of the night, she finally told me the great significance of her hair cut: while she was a child, her mother was physically abusive to her little sister, holding her down by the hair. She told me how her sister had cut her hair really short to keep safe from their mother, and how she cut her hair too to show support for her sister. As Darlene shuffled away from me towards the darkness outside, she shrugged and said, “Everything starts as an idea…everything starts as an idea.”
Despite her limited resources, Darlene had empowered herself to support her sister with the only resource she could, her own hair. It was one thing to recognize what she could do, and another to follow through and do it – I’m inspired by Darlene’s courage and generosity. Such courage and generosity is prevalent among the women at Beauty Night. One woman told me how she gives away part of her annual food hamper as Christmas presents, and another about how she writes poetry to fund raise for the community. Another women keeps in contact with youths she used to nanny and provides a safe refuge for them to flee to at night.
So what are women in the DTES dependent on? What do they want from aid organizations? Insight about these questions came from one women who was furious because she felt she’d been skipped in the line-up. My first thought was to try to explain to her how she’d just misinterpreted the sign-up sheet, yet part of me knew it’d be futile – I’d spoken with this woman earlier and guessed she had a mental disability; she was unlikely to understand the mix up, especially while on the verge of throwing a tantrum. As I stood paralysed in dilemma, the coordinator of the event, Caroline, noticed the woman’s distress: Caroline walked up to her, put a hand on her shoulder and asked what wrong. And then Caroline simply said “I’m sorry.” The woman paused for a minute, then in a softer voice repeated her concern. Caroline again said “I’m sorry.” No excuses. No rationalization. No judgement. Simply empathizing and taking ownership. This respect was what the woman needed.
I’ve learned from Beauty Night that the services themselves are less important than how the women are treated in the process – they’re treated like they’re competent to make choices, have a right to want things a certain way, and are independent decision makers. People may become dependent on substances but they continue to maintain and cherish independence in other areas of their lives. As Darlene said, everything starts as an idea. Ideas worth respecting come even from unexpected people in unexpected places. The women of the downtown eastside have ideas to be heard and to inspire us. Ideas they’re not afraid to act on.
What’s your idea and what’s stopping you from doing it?

This story has been written by Julia Pon.

Cut Off Supply of Kids

caroline — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:19:19 +0000

Beauty Night Board Member Dave Dickson’s article about Cut off Supply of Kids is in today’s Province Newspaper. For those of you who wonder what we can do to help in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side, Dave shares his highly informed opinion.

Dave Dickson Talks, Volunteers Listen

caroline — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:18:33 +0000

Our first Girl Talk Session produced by Leila Pejman and Caroline MacGillivray was a huge success. Dave Dickson, Beauty Night Board Member and former Sex Trade Liasson for the Vancouver Police Department held the audience captive. His talk about the survival sex work, addiction, and addiction prompted questions from volunteers.

Dave Dickson talks to Beauty Night Volunteers about Survival Sex Workers Photo by Aaron Chung 2009

Dave Dickson explains that survival sex workers in Vancouver as young as 10 years old have been seen in Vancouver. Photo by Aaron Chung

Volunteers listen intently as Dave describes the cyle of addiction, violence and survival sex work. Photo by Aaron Chung 2009

Audience feed back has been incredibly positive. Our next talk will be held this Thursday, June 25th, 2009.

Girl Talk

caroline — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:50:57 +0000

Starting on June 11th, Beauty Night Society will be launching Girl Talk. Hosted by Caroline MacGillivray (founder and president of Beauty Night Society), host of Sexy in Vancity Radio on 101.9FM, Girl Talk feature a guest every Thursday for an educational and exciting chat in front of an audience. Our first Girl Talk focuses on survival sex work in Vancouver’s DTES. Joining Caroline MacGillivray is Dave Dickson. Dickson was the sex trade liasson for the VPD and a Beauty Night Board Member. What is survival sex? How do women and men get into sex work? How does addiction play into the lives of many women who reside in Vancouver’s DTES? Who are the men who purchase sex from survival sex workers? Why? All this and more on Thursday, June 11th. Doors open at 6pm. Show starts at 6:30pm. Q & A to follow.

Date: Thursday, June 11th, 2009
Time: Doors open at 6pm, show starts at 6:30pm
Place: PHS Life Skills Centre 412 E Cordova
By donation (free for volunteers)
www.beautynight.org/blog

Frequently Asked Questions

caroline — Thu, 07 May 2009 17:19:28 +0000

What is Beauty Night?

Beauty Night Society is a volunteer based organization that offers marginalized women and youth makeovers and other wellness programs that will help them build their self-esteem and feelings of self worth.

Who are Beauty Night’s Clients?

Beauty Night Society serves hundreds of women and youth including those living on the streets, drug users, survival sex-trade workers and women with criminal records. Many of our clients may have AIDS or Hep C.

Most of Beauty Night’s clients have deal with physical or sexual abuse from an early age. In fact 90% of women in the survival sex trade and/or in correctional facilities have experienced sexual abuse.

Many Beauty Night clients deal with homelessness, poverty, and isolation. Other Beauty Night clients include young mothers, those living with mental illness, and the elderly.

What do you offer your clients?

We offer our clients support, friendship and programs to learn skills such as self-care and nutrition, fitness, goal setting, stress management, literacy, and interview preparation. One of our most popular programs is Beauty Night where volunteer professionals offer women free hair cuts, manicures, massages and makeovers. We also donate clothing and beauty products such as shampoo, skincare, and makeup.

Aren’t your clients more in need of essentials like health care, housing and jobs?

Beauty Night incorporates health care into our program. For example many of our volunteers who offer pedicures to our clients are nursing students who are checking for diabetes symptoms while applying nail polish. Beauty Night partners with many agencies that offer more extensive health care, housing, job training, and shelter.

Of course makeup and clothes are not as important as necessities like a place to live or finding a job. But they are still important contributors to helping women get off the street.

We at Beauty Night recognize that self-esteem is an important part of regaining control over one’s life. A nice haircut and professional outfit can make a woman much more confident about applying for a job or starting a new class at school. We also teach women how to look after their health through fitness and nutrition.

In addition, for many women on the street, human touch is associated with physical or sexual abuse. Having their shoulders massaged or hair brushed by a caring volunteer are wonderful reminders of how healing touch can be. Beauty Night strives to give its clients a rare moment of pleasure and pampering.

Besides Makeovers, What else does Beauty Night Do?

Other Beauty Night programs include:

Literacy

Creative Endeavours

Fitness and Nutrition

Personal Development

Can I get a tax receipt?

Yes. Beauty Night Society is a registered Canadian Charity. We give tax receipts for monietary donations over $10.

Where can I drop off donations of product?

Please contact info@beautynight.org.

What products does Beauty Night need?

New make up
Cotton pads
New mascara wands
Makeup applicators
Nail files
Yoga mats
New Skin care products
Small mirrors
Brush cleaner
Makeup remover
Organic fruit and vegetables
Herbal tea
Nail polish remover

Where do Beauty Night events take place?

In Vancouver

Mon through Thursday we are at 412 E Cordova from 6:30 to 9pm.

Toronto: Pending

Prince George: Pending

Victoria: Pending

What does Beauty Night Need?

$$$ for programming

New Product/ supplies

Volunteers

Who is on Beauty Night’s Board?

Caroline MacGillivray – Founder and President

Julia Saunders – Vice President

Rebecca Kerbel – Secretary

Bethany Tapp – Treasurer

Directors at Large:

Dave Dickson

Courtey Smith

Gwen Webster

Bill Nevison