A moment of rest

In the midst of a difficult season, it's easy to forget to take care of ourselves. This was the case for Charissa, a local who is going through a challenging time after her mother was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a stage four aggressive tumour. 

Ever since the diagnosis a year ago, Charissa has provided her mum with around the clock care, often forgetting about herself and missing her usual time with friends. She found herself exhausted, with no easy way to fill her own cup. However, thanks to the generosity of a local beauty salon, Features Inc, she was able to take a moment for herself and feel pampered.

Features Inc is a beauty salon that goes beyond the typical beauty treatments by providing a moment of care for their clients. They understand that self-care is important and can make a difference in someone's day. This is why they decided to pay-forward a $100 voucher to Curate Cares, as a way to get this experience to people who need it the most. 

When Curate Cares called Charissa about the beauty treatment voucher, she immediately assumed it was for her mother. She was so used to being a caregiver as opposed to being cared for.

Nikki, from Features Inc, who looked after her, provided a relaxing, caring experience that allowed Charissa to forget about everything else for an hour. 

Having been on the giving end of pay-it-forwards herself, this experience made Charissa realise that it’s not only things like food insecurity that determine need, it’s our emotional states too. It made her realise that everyone has different times when they're in need, and it's okay to receive help when it's offered.

To help Features Inc provide vouchers like this one, local law firm Holland Beckett Law adds frequent donations on top of Features Inc’s customer pay-it-forwards. By coming together they were able to make a positive impact on someone who really needed it.

If you’d like to be part of stories like this, head to our marketplace to see generous businesses near you where you can pay-it-forward.