TikTok star Ms Shirley who notably fed homeless people on Skid Row dies aged 58
Shirley Raines, best known as Ms Shirley online, has sadly passed away after leaving behind a legacy of charity work on Skid Row.
Shirley was a well-known and loved TiKTok content creator in Los Angeles, who founded a nonprofit organization called Beauty 2 the Streetz, an effort which fed the homeless in the area.
Providing food, clothing, and even hygiene products to those who need it most, Shirley built a following of people who wanted to see her good work.
Beauty 2 the Streetz made the announcement on Wednesday (January 28) to confirm her death.
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Her sister came forward to TMZ to share that she was not on medication and was ‘healthy’ at the time of her death, having been found unresponsive next to her bed on Tuesday.
However, she did not provide the circumstances or date of her passing.
Shirley was known for calling the homeless people she regularly visited 'kings and queens', and even cut and dyed their hair in a makeshift beauty salon.
The mother had developed Beauty 2 the Streetz after getting through her own experiences living without a home in the 1990s, which was around the time her two-year-old son, Demetrius J. Stephens Jr., died of accidental poisoning.
Shirley was able to later move to Inglewood, and go on to work several jobs.
“I would like the world to know that I’m a broken woman who buried a child, I take 20mg of prozac every day and I suffer from anxiety/panic disorder,” she said in a 2020 interview with Shoutout LA.
“I’m not waiting for things to be better for me but I’m pushing through my own personal crap to live out my purpose.”
In 2017, she began her role of volunteer work when her twin sister urged her to find something to help her emotionally, which led to her attending a volunteering event to help homeless people in Los Angeles.
There, after being complimented for her hair, she turned up with a bucket of hot water and products and began to get to work.
After that, she began to recruit those who were interested in her mission.
Two years later, she was registered with her nonprofit, and helping people each week on the streets.
For her, she said that taking care of those who need it, kept her feeling positive in light of her grief and pain.
“For the brief time I spent each day loving my body, I was able to feel like me,” she wrote in Cosmopolitan in 2022.
“When I focused on self-care, on making myself look good, I felt good.”
Britt Jones