Janie Rome says it’s a tradition she cherishes.
Every Thursday morning, a local volunteer group makes its way to Ormond Nursing and Care Center with the simple goal of giving its residents a little pampering and a reason to smile. The Pink Ladies have provided free hair care to the nursing home since 1988.
The program was started by Maggie St. Pierre, a hairdresser. The volunteers provide shampoos, haircuts and hairstyling for residents. They typically spend approximately four hours there, serving as many residents as time allows.
Rome, who for many years worked alongside sister Connie at Curler’s Corner beauty salon in Norco, joined the Pink Ladies 18 years ago. Connie and Rome’s husband John began volunteering with the group 15 years ago.
“Sometimes it’s two or three of us, sometimes five or six,” said Rome. “They really enjoy it, and we really enjoy it too, to make people feel good. All women, when they get their hair done, they just feel a lot better. So it gives them something to kind of perk them up.”
She views the volunteer work as a way to give back to a community that supported her business and career for many years. Rome began working as a hairdresser in 1965.
“We get to do something for the community. There are different ways to give back, but this was something we have a talent for,” said Rome.
John is affectionately known as the group’s “Pink Man.” He helps coordinate residents, bringing them to and from the hairdressing area and then back to their rooms or to therapy. He recently began cutting hair himself after the group trained him to use clippers for residents who want a simpler haircut without extensive styling.
Currently, the group has five members – Janie and John Rome, Connie Hotard, Tina Berteau and Stacy Murray.
The weekly routine has given the volunteers the chance to get to know the residents well.
“You get close to them and you look forward to seeing them,” Rome said. “Sometimes you get a little bit too close, you get upset when you lose them.”
Still, the satisfaction of making someone’s day a little brighter keeps them looking forward to each Thursday morning.
The Pink Ladies’ efforts are being recognized as the group has been honored as the Louisiana Nursing Home Association’s Volunteers of the Year.
Rome gave a nod to the nursing home’s activities staff, whose efforts go very far in making the program work, she said.
“They’re the backbone of really that whole scenario where we volunteer,” Rome said. “They really are phenomenal and they’re so good to all of their residents. We really couldn’t do what we do without them.”
