Hana's Hope pays it forward
Jennifer Smith
9/19/11
Nineteen years ago, Hana’s life revolved around health and beauty; she was a hair stylist, and her husband ran a martial-arts studio. And when you’re young, fit and infallible, who needs health insurance, right?
Until cancer strikes. In Hana’s case, it was advanced-stage breast cancer.
“I was with her when she was diagnosed,” said Jenett White, who had befriended Hana while taking classes at the martial-arts studio. “I said, ‘You worry about getting better, we’ll worry about the money. We’ll find a way.”
White rallied the other students to host fund-raisers, ultimately netting the $80,000 needed for chemotherapy and a mastectomy.
“When you go through something like that, and you have people - perfect strangers - coming to your aid, well, I was humbled,” said Hana, who goes by no last name. “People who have no money are never thought of. I’m not good at receiving. I asked Jenett, ‘How do I pay these people back?’ Jenett said, ‘You do stuff for other people.’”
So she did. She expanded her salon at 1082 W. Littleton Blvd. to include wigs and skin treatments for people with medical conditions such as cancer and alopecia, a skin disorder. She then launched Hana’s Hope, a nonprofit that donates wigs and services to those in need.
“Healing one’s self-image is critical to overall healthy recovery,” reads the group’s goal statement. “… A person’s need for services, rather than their ability to pay, is the heart of our philosophy.”
Hana hosted her 11th annual open house Saturday, welcoming more than 100 visitors and clients throughout the day. It was still bustling near closing time – an energetic, beautiful and cancer-free Hana barely had time to sit still, but one gets the impression she wouldn’t be happy sitting still for too long.
“She’s non-stop and hard-working,” said White. “She’s really dedicated to serving others. … She’s empathetic, but she’s very down to earth with them. It’s not a pity kind of thing. … People come in crying and leave with a smile.”
For more information on Hana’s Hope, click here.
