Beyoncé Cosmetology Center opened at Phoenix House Career Academy

Mar 6 2010

Phoenix House, the nation’s leading non-profit provider of substance abuse and prevention services, today announces the opening of the Beyoncé Cosmetology Center at the Phoenix House Career Academy. A residential treatment program with a fully equipped vocational training center on site, the Career Academy, located in Brooklyn, NY, guides students as they work toward their professional and personal goals. Adding a new track to the Career Academy’s vocational programs, the Beyoncé Cosmetology Center will offer a seven-month cosmetology training course for adult men and women. As Beyoncé is a spokesperson for L’Oréal Paris, the company is generously providing all makeup, skin care, and hair care products.

“Their generosity and compassion toward the men and women we serve is extraordinary. With this tremendous gift, they have given our clients a route to achieve successful, rewarding lives in recovery.”

The pop superstar’s relationship with Phoenix House began when she was preparing for the role of Etta James in the 2008 film Cadillac Records. To play the part of the former heroin addict, Beyoncé met with women in treatment at the Career Academy. Moved by their powerful stories of addiction and recovery, she later donated her salary from the film. A year later, she and her mother and business partner, fashion designer Tina Knowles, who owned a popular hair salon in Houston when Beyoncé was growing up, conceived of the idea of Phoenix House’s new cosmetology program.

“We were thrilled when Beyoncé and her mother Tina approached us about creating a cosmetology center for our clients,” said Phoenix House President and CEO Howard Meitiner. “Their generosity and compassion toward the men and women we serve is extraordinary. With this tremendous gift, they have given our clients a route to achieve successful, rewarding lives in recovery.”

Opening today, the Beyoncé Cosmetology Center will teach students the theory and practical skills they need to pass the NYS Cosmetology Licensure Exam. The Center will also offer complimentary services, using L’Oréal Paris products, to a wide range of community partners, enabling its more advanced students to refine and practice their skills. Phoenix House’s partners in this endeavor are two divisions of the NYS Department of Education, the Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID) and the Bureau of Propriety Schools (BPSS).

SOURCE Phoenix House