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Being spoiled on Valentine’s Day had a special significance for a group of Clark Countians this year.

“Today, we are doing some hairdos for love and are giving back for people in the community that are getting a second chance from the New Day Recovery [Center] to the homeless to Beacon of Hope,” said Sheila Brown.

Brown is the program director for Achieving Recovery Together (ART) and helped organize the first-ever Hair-Do’s 4Love with the organization’s director, Juanita Everman.

ART invited its clients to come to its downtown location for a free hair refresh and beauty shop talk.

Brown said that she expected about 25 people to participate.

“We just thought that it would be a good day to give back and show a little love,” she said.

Mae Hollon first heard about the event a few weeks ago and found it a touching gesture for those in the recovery community.

“It’s a really awesome thing,” Hollon said. “I think it is nice for them to treat us ladies–it’s Valentine’s Day–it’s nice for us to get a new beginning and a fresh do.”

Hollon recently celebrated 30 days in the recovery process and compared it to getting the dead ends of her hair removed.

“In recovery, we are learning to get to the bad fruits, like where do they come from, and we are getting to the root of it. If we get to the root of the problem, we won’t bear bad fruit,” she said. “So we get rid of these dead ends, we are going to grow out new hair. We are all growing, and it is fresh, and it is new.”

Recovery is hard work, though. Hollon said the most challenging part is taking inventory of changes she needs to make and starting to forgive herself.

Still, she is grateful for the experience and the support of her “sober sisters.”

“If you’ve got one person that cares about you, that can go a long way,” Hollon said.

Johnny Cline owns Salon 122 in Georgetown, Kentucky and was one of two hairstylists that participated. Sherri Clem of Winchester’s Amazing Grace Salon was the other.

Cline went through the recovery process in the past and was excited “to give back.”

“It can be a new beginning or give you a boost of confidence and change your whole outlook for the day for sure,” he said.

During his 18 years as a stylist, Cline has found that sometimes he is also his client’s one-hour confidant.

“You touch everybody’s lives. You hear about their problems they’ve had, and you can help talk them through it,” Cline said.

And on a day internationally known for humans showing their care for one another, that rings a little truer.