Shirley Raines

Shirley Raines (December 29, 1967 – January 27, 2026) was an American community activist. She was the founder of the non-profit Beauty 2 the Streetz, which provides hair and makeup services, food, clothing, hygiene and safety items to thousands of homeless people in Skid Row, Los Angeles. In 2021, she was chosen to be the CNN Hero of the Year. She was also chosen to be the NAACP Image Award Winner for Outstanding Social Media Personality in 2025.

Early life and career Raines grew up in Compton, California. In 1990, her two-year-old son, Demetrius, died of accidental poisoning while staying with Raines's grandmother. For decades following this, Raines struggled with financial insecurity, grief, and loss. Following this loss, she found that self-care and beautification helped her face her grief. In 2017, when on a feeding mission on Skid Row with her church group, Raines found a "purpose for her pain," seeing a connection with the experience of the Skid Row community members. At the time, she was working as a medical biller.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, Raines shifted the priorities of Beauty 2 the Streetz to adapt to the changing needs, working with health services to turn their outpost into a COVID testing and vaccination site and providing PPE and education along with the food and other supplies Beauty 2 the Streetz normally provided. Raines also advocated for the homeless community, who had minimal access to important hygiene resources.

In 2023, Raines expanded outreach services to San Diego.

By January 2026, Raines' TikTok page, which covered some of her community activism, had five million followers.

Death Raines died in Las Vegas on January 27, 2026, at the age of 58.

On February 18th, Raines's cause of death was revealed to be hypertensive heart disease. A spokesperson for the Clark County Coroner's Office confirmed the cause of death and added that the manner of death was natural.

Awards and recognition In 2021, she was chosen to be the CNN Hero of the Year, also receiving a $100,000 grant for her work.

In 2025, she was nominated for the 56th NAACP Image Awards in the category Outstanding Social Media Personality of the Year. Similarly, TIME named Raines as one of their TIME100 Creators for 2025.