14 Jan Hair Care Donations Help Women Start Over After Incarceration 

Organization: Friends of Guest House
Lives Impacted: 47
Website: https://friendsofguesthouse.org/ 

 Friends of Guest House located in Alexandria, VA helps women successfully reenter the community after incarceration. Since our founding in 1974, Guest House has helped more than 3,000 women break the vicious cycle of incarceration, reunite with their families, and reintegrate into their communities. We provide formerly incarcerated women the structure, supervision, support, and assistance they need to move beyond who they were in order to become who they want to be. We are the only reentry program in Northern Virginia, and the largest reentry program in the state. We provide supportive housing, case management services, workforce and life skills development for 26 women for six to 24 months.  

Transitioning from incarceration back into the community is not an easy process. Formerly incarcerated women face a variety of challenges ranging from trauma, addiction, discrimination, unemployment, and homelessness. We want our residents to be surrounded by support and stability. Part of providing that stability means being able to provide basic necessities. While incarcerated, many of our residents lacked basic hygiene products (soap, feminine products, razors, hot water, etc.).  Thanks to this donation from of hair care and other donors, we were able to receive razors, lotion, shampoo, and conditioner for all of the women in our Residential Program. This donation helped provide the stability many of our residents are seeking and helped make our organization feel like a home.  

The women we serve greatly appreciate the opportunity to lather up with soap and take a hot shower. Something so simple has the ability to rejuvenate their minds, boost their self-confidence, and regain their sense of self-worth. Carley, one of our newest residents, shared with us that she has been in and out of treatment facilities since she was a young adult. She said she never stayed anywhere longer than 48 hours because she always felt the need to run. Carley has been at our house for a little over a week now and was proud to share with us that she finally felt like she was at home.  Many of our women lack support and a place to stay following their incarceration. One of our main goals is for our women to feel like they are part of a supportive community and feel like they can call Guest House home. Providing basic hygiene products helps make that possible. We could not do it without the help of our supporters, donors, and other amazing organizations like Good360.