Bay News 10
Tampa, Florida - By Isabel Mascarenas, Reporter
Tampa photographer Gary Kaplan documented the makeovers with hundreds of photos, some of which you can see in this Bay News slideshow.
A local business gets into the Thanksgiving spirit and reaches out to women in need.
Hair salon owner Mikel Sandoval of Mikel's says, “We think of ourselves as the look good, feel good, place to be."
But for owner Sandoval and his team, those words have never meant more than on this day.
"What a better way to build self esteem than with women wanting to get back into the job market?” asks Sandoval.
Six women who are surviving serious hardships, from homelessness to abuse and illness, are getting back on their feet with help from Metropolitan Ministries and Mikel's. There's 51-year-old Radell Wilcox, mother of 11 and a cancer patient. After one week of chemo, she's lost all her hair. At Mikel's she'll receive a new human hair wig.
25-year-old Jaimie Ramirez is the mother of a 19-month-old girl who found herself homeless when her daughter was just 2-weeks-old.
The ladies receive new hair styles with color, special scalp and hand massages and eye brow reshaping.
Radell got fitted for her human hair wig in strawberry blonde just like her own. Then it's off to make up the last step in a 4-hour makeover.
Radell says she wasn't ready for all the pampering, "I'm happy, I'm happy this is a blessing. A lot of people put time and effort in this I'm thankful. It's lifted my spirit so much the chemo took so much out of me."
Jaimie has gotten her GED, gone back to school and is hoping for a job as a medical secretary.
Jaimie says, "I didn't give up. I had to do this for my child, do this for me and when it's done, the end result will be great."
The women found the courage to get help and both say now their new look gives them the self confidence they need to move forward with life.
Hair salon owner Mikel Sandoval of Mikel's says, “We think of ourselves as the look good, feel good, place to be."
But for owner Sandoval and his team, those words have never meant more than on this day.
"What a better way to build self esteem than with women wanting to get back into the job market?” asks Sandoval.
Six women who are surviving serious hardships, from homelessness to abuse and illness, are getting back on their feet with help from Metropolitan Ministries and Mikel's. There's 51-year-old Radell Wilcox, mother of 11 and a cancer patient. After one week of chemo, she's lost all her hair. At Mikel's she'll receive a new human hair wig.
25-year-old Jaimie Ramirez is the mother of a 19-month-old girl who found herself homeless when her daughter was just 2-weeks-old.
The ladies receive new hair styles with color, special scalp and hand massages and eye brow reshaping.
Radell got fitted for her human hair wig in strawberry blonde just like her own. Then it's off to make up the last step in a 4-hour makeover.
Radell says she wasn't ready for all the pampering, "I'm happy, I'm happy this is a blessing. A lot of people put time and effort in this I'm thankful. It's lifted my spirit so much the chemo took so much out of me."
Jaimie has gotten her GED, gone back to school and is hoping for a job as a medical secretary.
Jaimie says, "I didn't give up. I had to do this for my child, do this for me and when it's done, the end result will be great."
The women found the courage to get help and both say now their new look gives them the self confidence they need to move forward with life.
Tampa photographer Gary Kaplan documented the makeovers with hundreds of photos, some of which you can see in this Bay News slideshow.
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