in 1990, she left her young son demetrius in the care of her grandmother. he found a bottle of prescription drugs, swallowed them, and a few days later he died just shy of his third birthday. soon after, shirley lost her grandmother and demetrius's father to cancer. she was broken, on the brink of homelessness, and thought about ending her life. then in 2017, she was asked to lend a hand at skid row. the moment that shirley stepped on that block, she found purpose for her pain. shirley started beauty 2 the streetz to provide food, clothes, sanitation products, hair, and makeup services and every saturday she goes to where most of us fear to tread. she gives people a hug, a hair cut, and maybe even a glorious red dye job.