TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A new nonprofit, Kiki's Haus, is providing free hair services for youth and young adults experiencing illness-induced hair loss.
Founder and hairstylist Kendra Dinius noticed the need when her friend Melissa Nino's daughter, Valentina Ramirez, was diagnosed with T-Cell Leukemia, a rare form of Leukemia, two years ago.
Ramirez's first question: "Am I going to lose my hair?"
Dinius, a long time friend of theirs, stepped in. She braided purple strands in Ramirez's hair to hold her hair together longer.
"That's what everybody knew her for, was her purple braids while we were in the hospital the first four weeks," Nino said.
When Ramirez began treatment, she lost her hair within a week. Her hair didn't start to grow back for a year.
“This has been the toughest thing to go through as a mom with my daughter," Nino said. "Kendra made it so much better for her."
Nino is a hairstylist herself, but she said, she doesn't know how to do braids or extensions.
“Losing my hair was a lot harder than I thought," Ramirez said.
Seeing Ramirez's experience and facing her own diagnosis of Parkinson's in 2020, Dinius began to reconsider other avenues to continue helping children.
The result: Kiki's Haus.
"It changed my career path. It changed what I was doing," Dinius said. "I was so focused on my career and like, where I was going that when that hit, it kind of was a wake up call to me."
Dinius began to ask, "What do I want to do with my life? What do I want to do that makes me happy?"
Once she thought about it, she said, she realized kids are what make her happy.
"I love my job and I love making people happy and feel good about themselves, and that's kind of where Kiki's Haus was born," Dinius said.
Even though she only began providing services through Kiki's Haus in May, she has seen a strong demand with three to four clients per week.
Dinius, who has worked with clients as young as 6 years old, said they are now working on a way to create custom wigs for petite heads.
"These wigs don't fit perfectly," Dinius said. "So, we have to come in and there's so many adjustments that we're having to do to make them fit and fit correctly and well, so that these kids can walk out of here feeling confident."
But it's not just providing a wig — it's also educating families.
“I want to teach these families, like, how to take care of the wig. I want to teach them how to apply the wig," Dinius said. "I want the wig to fit correctly and that's what really sets us apart from other charities and nonprofits, is that we do all of that."
Other services along with a head shave include brow tinting, lash extensions, nail services and facials.
"Anything to make them feel good on that day because it's a very emotional experience," Dinius said.
For Valentina, who now has hair extensions, Kiki's Haus's services mean feeling confident before the school year begins.
“Going back to school with new hair has made me feel like normal and I fit in again," Ramirez said. "I didn't have to worry about how I looked anymore."
Quality wigs can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars, said Dinius. To support the need, she said Kiki's Haus is looking for donations. They can be found on both Instagram and Facebook.
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