The clippers buzzed and lively conversation flowed on a crisp, sunny October morning at Divine Hair Studios.
But that’s not always the case.
"In our profession, doing hair is only part of it. Even though it's the reason they come, it's one small part of what it is that we actually do. And so, yes, we're doing hair, but we're dealing with the human. We're dealing with their ups. We're dealing with their downs. We're dealing with their milestones, we're dealing with their disappointments,” said Divine co-owner Monique Williams.
She and her husband and co-owner Nate Williams were dressed in matching Divine merch, ready for a day of braiding, styling and helping clients feel their best, even when they leave their chairs.
Divine Hair Studios and Community Care Behavioral Health (CCBH), a behavioral health managed care organization that coordinates patient care, partnered during a mental health training for a statewide initiative called OurHAIR, which stands for Health Access Initiative for Recovery, and aims to serve the state’s Black and Hispanic communities.
“Even though they distrust the healthcare system, who they do trust and they do talk to are their barbers and their stylists, and we thought we should partner with the barbers and the stylists around working with their clients around mental health. Give them more for their toolbox, because for a lot of people, their barbers and their stylists, that's their therapists,” said Lori Weems, the OurHAIR project manager at CCBH.
Divine, one of more than 15 salons and barbershops part of the initiative in the region, can now lean on their mental health training and partnership with CCBH to provide clients with tangible resources beyond just a sympathetic ear.
OurHAIR
OurHAIR’s goal is to “to help barbers and stylists recognize signs that a client may be struggling with a behavioral health issue —like depression, anxiety, trauma, or substance use disorder.”
Weems, who started the OurHAIR initiative in 2023, sees salons and barbershops as a way to bring resources directly to underserved populations.
“What we found is sometimes they're talking to their clients, but they don't always feel like [they’re] saying the right thing. We provide training on substance use disorder, some general mental health issues like depression, anxiety, trauma, and then we also train them in a suicide prevention curriculum called QPR [question, persuade response.] We train them in those things so that they can recognize warning signs and symptoms,” Weems said.
“Then we train them on how to engage, like when they're talking to their clients and they realize something's not right, they might need a little help. How do I engage them in conversation, and then where are the resources? How do I connect them to the resources,” she continued.
Since 2023, Weems has trained 122 barbers, stylists, tattoo artists and nail technicians. The OurHAIR training consists of a three-day in-person workshop, followed by once monthly virtual meetings for five months. Then, she travels the state, checking in on affiliated salons and shops, as she did at Divine in October before heading home to Pittsburgh from a three-day training in Scranton.
CCBH received a grant from the Moses Taylor Foundation to conduct this fall’s training. This cohort was the first to include Hispanic hair professionals. Weems typically does a few training sessions each year.
Appointments for Black hairstyles can often last several hours. An appointment for medium knotless braid’s, one of Divine Hair Studios’ most popular styles, can last around seven hours, according to the salon’s booking website.
Braiders and stylists often get to know their clients well, just through sheer amount of time spent together.
“We've heard that [the training] takes the pressure off of them because people come and dump all kinds of things on their hairstylists and they carry that with them. But now a lot of them said they don't feel like they have to carry it because now they know where to have them go to get help,” Weems said.
But now, OurHAIR-affiliated stylists and barbers know what to do if they fear a client’s at risk.
“We have a whole list of flyers about anything from peer support, inpatient mental health. We also have Narcan, suicide prevention. Information on flyers about 988, anybody can text and or call 988 and get connected to a crisis worker just like that. Anybody can help prevent a suicide. It's just having the conversation,” said Wendy Zaccone, a senior community health worker for CCBH’s Northeast region, which covers Luzerne, Lackawanna, Susquehanna and Wyoming Counties.
Mental and substance abuse disorder health resources:
● 988: Call or text the suicide prevention and crisis support line
● If you or someone you know is in need of substance use treatment or resources, contact the ‘Get Help Now’ helpline: Call 1-800-622-HELP (4357)
● Text 717-216-0905
● More information available at: Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs
Providing resources helps the professionals feel that they are doing their part in helping clients.
“They may not feel comfortable with going anywhere else, but they'll feel comfortable unloading here. We provide those resources to them, whether they take it or not,” said Divine braider Elaine Hillman.
Caring for the whole person, not just their hair
Local community health workers with CCBH connect with the salons and shops at the trainings.
“We come down here and offer them resources. We help connect their clients to any local mental health, substance use crisis, and also additional resources like food insecurities, housing, financial instabilities, transportation,” Zaccone said.
She loves to see innovative ways to reach people in need.
“It's fantastic to see the excitement of the stylists and their passion. Not only the passion for what they do with hair and what they do for us, their customers, but also for what they do for the public,” she said.
Zaccone offers more than just traditional mental health resources. She now brings in flyers about SNAP benefits and Medicaid, due to the changes to both under HR-1, commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The Divine owners admit they are not experts on any of those topics but want to be prepared in case they can help their clients.
“I might be able to give [clients] words of encouragement. But there are some things that you need action behind. If your client is in need or their food stamps have stopped, me giving a kind word might not be enough. They might need to know the number to get reinstated,” Monique Williams said.
Divine staff see their involvement with OurHAIR as a way to better serve their community.
“We want to serve the people, not just in our chair, but also in our community. It's just enhanced this service mission that we're really on,” Nate Williams said.
The staff said their mental health training has become an important part of how they care for clients.
“Our curling irons, our scissors, our blow dryers are our tools. We also have this now as another tool in our arsenal that we can whip out and use whenever we need to,” said salon support specialist Kim Holley.
Breaking down mental health stigma
According to nonprofit health policy research, polling and news organization KFF, Hispanic, Black and Asian adults were less likely than White adults to receive mental health services as of 2024.
“Just like everywhere else, our African American members have mental health at the same rate as the general population. However, they don't access services at the same rate, and really, that's due to lack of trust, bias, stigma, and those kinds of things,” Weems said.
“It's okay to get help. It's tearing down those biases and stigmas that we have around mental health, and they're normalizing getting help,” she continued.
Becoming an OurHAIR affiliated location was a no-brainer for the Williamses, and it helped further their mission as local business owners.
“Being a black-owned business, I do believe that what me and my wife [wanted to] start here is really give people a great experience in a way that doesn't matter of our complexion. Doesn't matter of our background. When you come here, you're able to just be who you are, be yourself and just open up. That's the experience that we really wanted to have in the NEPA area,” Nate Williams said.
The Divine staff encourage other shops and salons around the region to go through the OurHAIR training.
Weems loves watching the program and her hard work spread outside of her home Allegheny County into a program with statewide impact.
“More than anything, this is an initiative that changes attitudes. It captures normalizing getting help and helping people understand that it doesn't mean you're crazy because you need behavioral health issues. So that's just been powerful,” Weems said.
NEPA’s OurHAIR affiliated salons and shops:
● Beautiful Intentions Salon, Dupont
● Barber Life Barbershop & Retail, Wilkes-Barre
● Holistic Tattoo, traveling artist
● Glamformers, Nanticoke
● Haus of Mod, Wilkes-Barre
● Butter’s Barbershop, Scranton
● Divine Hair Studios, Kingtston
● Verstylez Beauty Bar, Peckville
● Dare 2 Be Different Salon, Wilkes-Barre
● Holley Hair Haven, Wilkes-Barre
● Beautiful Intentions, Wilkes-Barre
● Arawak Ink Tattoo, Scranton
● Artistry Studio, Hanover
● City Touch Barbershop, Scranton
● New York Beauty Salon, Scranton
● Romy Nails
● E&E Beauty, Scranton
Editor’s Note: WVIA’s Lydia McFarlane has gotten her hair done at Divine Hair Studios and her salary is partially covered by a grant from Moses Taylor Foundation.
