Unfortunate news hit Black media as Beauty 2 The Streetz founder Shirley Raines has passed away at 58. Although her cause of death has not been officially released, her daughter, Danielle Williams, said authorities are “leaning towards natural causes” in a PEOPLE report. Raines was known as “Ms. Shirley” to her more than 5 million TikTok followers and to the people who regularly lined up for the food, beauty treatments, and hygiene supplies she brought to Los Angeles’ Skid Row and other homeless communities in California and Nevada.
“It is with profound sorrow and heavy hearts that Beauty 2 The Streetz announces the passing of our beloved CEO and founder, Shirley Raines, affectionately known to so many as Ms. Shirley,” the organization wrote in a statement. “This loss is devastating to the entire Beauty 2 The Streetz team, the communities we serve, and the countless individuals whose lives were forever changed by Ms. Shirley’s love, generosity, and selfless service.”
Raines was a mother of six children — Demetrius, Danielle, Rashawn, Dalvion, Macajiah, and Micah. Demetrius died of an accidental overdose after getting into a family member’s prescription medications just days before his 3rd birthday in 1990. Raines struggled with financial insecurity, grief, and loss for decades, but found that self-care and beautification helped her face her grief.
Raines’ philanthropy work began in 2017 when, on a feeding mission on Skid Row with her church group, Raines found a “purpose for her pain,” seeing a connection with the experience of the Skid Row community members.
In 2019, Raines registered Beauty 2 The Streetz as a nonprofit organization. At the time, she prepared about 400 meals a week in her apartment in Long Beach, which she then delivered to Skid Row.
When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, Raines shifted the priorities of Beauty 2 The Streetz to adapt to the changing needs, working with health services turning their outpost into a COVID testing and vaccination site, and providing PPE and education, along with the food and other supplies Beauty 2 The Streetz normally provided. Raines also advocated for the homeless community, who had minimal access to important hygiene resources.
In 2021, Raines was named CNN Hero of the Year. During her speech, she reflected on her journey. “It’s important you know that broken people are still very much useful,” she said during the CNN award ceremony.
That deep grief led her to begin helping homeless people.
“I would rather have him back than anything in the world, but I am a mother without a son, and there are a lot of people in the street that are without a mother,” she said. “And I feel like it’s a fair exchange — I’m here for them.”
Crushow Herring, the art director of the Sidewalk Project, said Raines was both sentimental and protective of the homeless community. The Sidewalk Project uses art and peer empowerment programs to help people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles.
“I’ve been getting calls all morning from people, not just who live in Skid Row but Angelenos who are shocked” by Raines’ death, Herring said. “To see the work she did, and how people couldn’t wait to see her come out? It was a great mission. What most people need is just feeling dignified about themselves, because if they look better, they feel better.”
Raines would often give people on the street a position working with her as she provided haircuts or handed out goods, Herring said.