Hairs To You Local Ukrainians
One local hair salon opens its doors (and hearts) to the province’s new Ukrainian citizens.
Uliana Strokush and her 15-year-old daughter Andrianna arrived in Newfoundland and Labrador from Ukraine on May 9th.
They spent the first two weeks in their new city, quarantined inside a Holiday Inn. On May 29th, they were transported by bus supplied by City Wide Taxi and brought to The Headroom Salon and Spa in St. John’s and enjoyed a morning of getting their hair styled, receiving a manicure, meeting new faces and spending the day with their fellow Ukrainians, all adapting to their new home province.
The Headroom Salon and Spa opened its doors to Ukrainians new to the province by offering free haircuts and spa services, breakfast, lunch, and activities for kids (including a large bouncy castle provided by Tom Davis of Frontline Action) throughout the day.
This was the first-day Strokush and her daughter had left their hotel room since their arrival in St. John’s. What struck her was the amount of care she received from the staff of The Headroom the minutes she entered the door. “Everybody was smiling.”
Strokush and her daughter left their home country, Ukraine, the day after the conflict in the region began, when the country was invaded by the Russian military.
She had read about a program online that offered an overnight charter service for Ukrainians to flee their country. They travelled forced arrival from Poland to Newfoundland and Labrador.
Strokush felt a warm welcome almost immediately after she arrived, and she admits she cried at the airport at the hospitality offered to her. Her daughter always had dreams of studying in another country and can now do so.
They both now consider St. John’s home and have taken to exploring city nature. “We walk around the lake. The only problem for me, it’s windy,” Strokush laughs.
“It’s unreal,” Strokush says of the welcome she’s received since arriving. “I never saw so many positive and open people. Everyone wants to help and asks, how are you? What do you need? If there’s anything you need, just call me.”
Strokush keeps up on daily news from her country, which she admits is very hard, especially when she learns of the daily bombings happening back home. “That’s very painful,” she says.
In addition to a hairstyle, they were treated to a manicure and their first taste of wine since the war began. For Strokush whose parents, brother and sister remain in Ukraine, she appreciates the kindness of a day like the one she spent at the salon.
“It was a reminder from my old life.”
From Ukraine with Love
The Headroom Salon and Spa owner Trish Molloy, who has been operating her business for 35 years, says the day took three weeks to plan and organize and would require a lot of effort, but the desire to help and warmly welcome the people of Ukraine now living in a new country, was the motivator.
“Once the Ukrainians arrived, we all decided we wanted to do something and make them feel welcome and at home.”
20 companies and services helped and contributed to the event including Celtic Hearth which provided breakfast, Mary Browns who provided lunch Tim Horton’s Torbay Road which provided coffee and the bus service which had been travelling back and forth from the hotel all did their part to make sure the day was a success.
Molloy says the generosity from others has been overwhelming and wished to single out her entire staff at the Lemarchant Road and Karwood Drive, Paradise locations of The Headroom which assisted in the event, along with student hairstylists from Keyin College who Molloy says have gone “above and beyond.”
The gratitude was felt by everyone as the province's newest citizens cried from the happiness and overjoyed of the day. The people of Ukraine presented a gift to the staff of The Headroom. “It was amazing. It brought us all to tears,” Molloy says.
By the end of the day, around 90 people had come through the salon, each one smiling at the kindness and warmth offered to them.
“We had tons of fun and everybody was interactive, we made some beautiful new friends,” Molloy said of the successful event. “But now we’re fried.”
