Karen Newman, marketing director at Royal LePage Atlantic Homestead in St. John’s, was instrumental in setting up a hair salon at a local women’s shelter.
“We were talking about how women often come (to the shelter) feeling quite down,” Iris Kirby House executive director Michelle Greene told The Telegram. “And how wonderful it is when you get your hair cut and how you feel better – you walk out feeling great. Karen had the idea that we could do that for the women on a very small scale.”
Newman told The Telegram that the conversation came up when she was talking about the fact that her daughter is a hairdresser.
“And it just sort of took off from there,” she says. “I was going to get some donations and put together a nice basket for the residents here – some beauty supplies – and it sort of snowballed into this salon room, which we call The Beauty Room.”
The salon is open on Sundays. Two volunteer stylists offer their services for free.
Newman was recently honoured as a Royal LePage East Coast Individual of the Year by the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation.
