Shirley Raines, who brings beauty and hope to the men and women living on Los Angeles Skid Row — home to lots of homeless people, is the 2021 CNN Hero of the Year. She is the founder of Beauty 2 The Streetz, a non-profit organization that provides free food, clothing, hair, and makeup services to the homeless.

In 1990, Raines’ 2-year-old son passed away from accidental poisoning. This event created a lot of pain for Shirley Raines. And she did not know what to do about it. She struggled to understand what her purpose was in life. Until one day...

Shirley visited Skid Row with a friend who asked her to volunteer. Raines originally started volunteering at a soup kitchen to serve the homeless, as reported on CNN. When she kept receiving praise for her hair and makeup, she soon realized that being homeless is not just about food, water, and shelter, but about finding themselves and their own worth. People appreciate beauty and they want to look nice. She began by buying mascara (睫毛膏) and hair dye to hand out at the soup kitchen, then headed for Skid Row, offering to do people’s hair and makeup for free.

Raines started sharing her efforts on Instagram with photos and things took off. She founded Beauty 2 The Streetz, and her followers quickly began donating to grow Shirley’s impact. Licensed hair stylists and even makeup artists reached out to Raines saying they wanted to help.

Raines has transformed many street people in Skid Row ever since. Cherish Benham told CNN she felt like a new woman because of Raines. Having been homeless for four years, she now holds her head up high, has a job, and a fixed place to live. Speaking to CNN about Shirley Raines, Cherish said, “No matter what situation you’re in, and no matter what you look like, she always shows you love and respect, which makes me feel like a normal human being.”

For Raines and her team, this is their sunny, significant way to reach out and connect to everyone on the street equally. Shirley’s caring, courage and desire to take action have led to making a real impact on people’s lives. And she also served as a role model and inspiration to others.

Everywhere inside Valerie Tolman's home in Missouri City are signs that she has a big heart. There are family photos, including those of two biological and two adopted children who are all now grown; her two rescue dogs, Ivy and Ellie, are close by and, in an upstairs bedroom, are four kittens she's looking after. Her love of animals and passion for helping strays (走失的宠物) find homes earned her the Missouri City Volunteer of the Year award in 2017.

Tolman, a former newspaper reporter and software-industry analyst, started the volunteer program at the Missouri City Animal Shelter in 2014 after she retired. She later formed the Friends of the Missouri City Animal Shelter, a nonprofit to expand the group's efforts to keep animals healthy, alive and adoptable. ''I like living things, and it breaks my heart to think something is suffering - animals or humans, '' Tolman said.

She even challenged city officials about the lack of funding (资金提供) for the shelter, and encouraged the public to complain (投诉) in letters and emails to the City Council. Eventually, the council budgeted $250,000 for the shelter. ''I fought city hall and won, '' she said. ''The animals are in such better shape. I'm proud of that. ''

But she's most proud of her efforts to send high school students from low-income families to college. She and her husband Davis Tolman, a retired petroleum geologist, started a scholarship for first-generation college students in 2001. Tolman said 5l students have received full tuition (学费), including books, through the program. Although the graduation rate for the scholarship receivers is 54 percent, Tolman said all of the students tended to become successful in life simply because they attended college. Most of the students are the first in their families to go to college.

''It has a ripple effect, and even though some may not finish, there is a feeling that anything is possible, '' she said. ''We now have nurses, teachers and engineers because of this program. ''