Atelier Cares

28 Sep Atelier Cares

Atelier recently made another visit to Sunnyvale Community Services to provide complimentary haircuts to the community clients of the center.

Atelier Founder, Karie Bennett, writes about the experience from her point of view:

I had an amazing Friday afternoon this week—I went with a few of our artists to Sunnyvale Community Services to give their clients haircuts. Sounds like a simple thing to do. It was the easiest part of my week. But it wasn’t simple at all. It was complex, deeply satisfying, and gave me all the feels. Not only because the recipients of these haircuts were homeless due to varying reasons, but because when I looked up from my own snipping to see Elizabeth Coxon, Alicia C Rodriguez, Isabel Jackson, and Ryuta Sanui taking such great care with the adults and children who have had such a rough go of it…well that just filled my heart. It’s ‘just a haircut’, doesn’t apply here. It was a simple kindness, some caring attention, and the reveal at the end with a hand mirror—and the smiles, the hand through the hair, the look in their eye–they felt happy. And no matter what life throws at them tomorrow, they will remember that moment. In fact, we saw a woman who had signed up for a haircut who we met last time, back in January*. A repeat client! 

Kim Nguyen beautifying one of SCS’s clients

Celine Gronachon giving Aveda Hand Treatments to pamper our SCS clients

**Note that when we went in January, other Atelier Artists who joined us were: Cindy Urbany, Liz Bozzo, Kim Nguyen, Kate Coxon and Celine Gronachon.

SCS has a ‘grocery store’ that their clients can come to, and ‘shop’ for staples and necessities. They give backpacks to the kids, bikes, and also have fresh veggies and fruits, as well as dried foods like rice and cereal.  (The shopping shelves could use more donations to fill them up…)

They also help place people into jobs, find temporary housing, and try to prevent small problems from becoming bigger ones that are harder to find solutions to. Here in the Silicon Valley, it’s not a far leap from hopeless to homeless. This is an amazing organization and one that we are happy to support. http://www.svcommunityservices.org/

Donating your time and talent isn’t something that everyone can do. Some people don’t have the time, they have their own difficulties to deal with. But when you can take the time, the rewards are so huge–so wonderful. And I’m so proud of my team. We are planning our 3^rd trip back to SCS soon! #atelieraveda

Our “Appointment book” and our Aveda products to use on our SCS clients

Our January visit got a mention in the local paper. On left, Celine Gronachon. On right, Kate Coxon.

Cindy Urbany was all smiles as she gave this SCS client a beautiful haircut

Atelier founder Karie Bennett giving this SCS client a precision trim

Clockwise from top left: Isabel Jackson, Alicia Rodriguez and Ryuta Sanui, Alicia, and Kate Coxon making people feel fabulous!