Detroit cosmetologist and CEO of Inspiring Hair, Niesha Lee, 39, hosts a free salon for the unhoused, donating her services each week at Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries Genesis House II shelter. “A lot of people who face homelessness are looked over because of their outer appearance and that’s my goal – to change that,” Lee told the Detroit Free Press. She knows, having experienced homelessness herself at various periods throughout her life; DRMM is the shelter that housed her. 

Lee’s parents were struggling with mental illness and substance abuse, and she took on responsibility for her five siblings at the tender age of seven. Formally taking full custody of all five younger children after her high school graduation, Lee often struggled to make ends meet, and turned to shelters for help.

She wants her salon services to help current residents of DRMM shelter be taken seriously for employment, aid them in being presentable for court dates, and generally improve the way they feel about themselves, something that can be hard for folks who are unhoused. 

“There are so many things going on when you’re homeless, you don’t have time to get yourself in order, and that’s the thing that is looked over the most. You have to be able to handle your mental health as best as you can, and when you don’t feel good, sometimes you tend to not want to look good, and I’m trying to reverse that,” she said.

Besides offering free mobile salon services to residents of DRMM, Lee’s website says she also partners with back-to-school events, providing free styling to children in need. The work is funded by sales of her online-only lipstick brand, Inspiring Cosmetics. 

And Lee keeps providing the services, despite continuing to face housing insecurity. “This is a way for her to do something, to offer a service to women who are in a situation that she’s been in, and been very familiar with,” said Chiara Clayton, director of communications for DRMM. “It’s a way to kind of pay it forward.

The name “MindSite News” is used with the express permission of Mindsight Institute, an educational organization offering online learning and in-person workshops in the field of mental health and wellbeing. MindSite News and Mindsight Institute are separate, unaffiliated entities that are aligned in making science accessible and promoting mental health globally.

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Detroit Cosmetologist Hosts A Free Salon At The Shelter That Once Served Her

by Courtney Wise, MindSite News
August 21, 2025

<h1>Detroit Cosmetologist Hosts A Free Salon At The Shelter That Once Served Her</h1> <p class="byline">by Courtney Wise, MindSite News <br />August 21, 2025</p> <br /> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/21161923/shutterstock_1509298886.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-12099" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>Niesha Lee, CEO of inspiring hair, offers free salon services to the Detroit unhoused community. <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Amazingmikael">Ranta Images</a>/ Shutterstock (for illustrative purposes only)</strong></figcaption></figure> <p>Detroit cosmetologist and CEO of <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/inspiringhair/home">Inspiring Hair</a>, Niesha Lee, 39, hosts a free salon for the unhoused, donating her services each week at Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries Genesis House II shelter. "A lot of people who face homelessness are looked over because of their outer appearance and that's my goal – to change that," <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2025/08/18/detroiter-takes-mobile-hair-salon-to-homeless-shelters/84030033007/">Lee told the Detroit Free Press</a>. She knows, having experienced homelessness herself at various periods throughout her life; DRMM is the shelter that housed her. </p> <p>Lee’s parents were struggling with mental illness and substance abuse, and she took on responsibility for her five siblings at the tender age of seven. Formally taking full custody of all five younger children after her high school graduation, Lee often struggled to make ends meet, and turned to shelters for help. </p> <p>She wants her salon services to help current residents of DRMM shelter be taken seriously for employment, aid them in being presentable for court dates, and generally improve the way they feel about themselves, something that can be hard for folks who are unhoused. </p> <p>"There are so many things going on when you're homeless, you don't have time to get yourself in order, and that's the thing that is looked over the most. You have to be able to handle your mental health as best as you can, and when you don't feel good, sometimes you tend to not want to look good, and I'm trying to reverse that," she said.</p> <p>Besides offering free mobile salon services to residents of DRMM, Lee’s website says she also partners with back-to-school events, providing free styling to children in need. The work is funded by sales of her online-only lipstick brand,&nbsp;<a href="https://sites.google.com/view/inspiringhair/inspiring-cosmetics?authuser=0">Inspiring Cosmetics</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>And Lee keeps providing the services, despite continuing to face housing insecurity. "This is a way for her to do something, to offer a service to women who are in a situation that she's been in, and been very familiar with,” said Chiara Clayton, director of communications for DRMM. “It's a way to kind of pay it forward.</p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://mindsitenews.org/2025/08/21/free-salon-at-the-shelter-that-once-served-her/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://mindsitenews.org&quot;&gt;MindSite News&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://mindsitenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=12086&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;

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