There’s a new doughnut on the streets.
The handcrafted, $6 treat is one of Shirley Raines’ newest efforts to bring joy and dignity to the thousands of homeless people in the Las Vegas Valley this summer.
Just in time for Juneteenth, Raines, who is the founder of Beauty 2 The Streetz, a nonprofit organization that feeds and provides cosmetic services to those in need, has partnered with a local gourmet doughnut shop to create a peach cobbler pastry inspired by her own recipe. For the rest of the summer, Saint Honoré patrons can buy the doughnut for themselves, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to Beauty 2 The Streetz, or they can buy a doughnut for someone on the streets.
“It’s about the culture and caring for the community,” Raines said Thursday, promoting the collaboration at Saint Honoré’s Blue Diamond location. “I can’t do much about all the division we see in our country today, but I can focus on the positives.”
Alexandra Lourdes and Steve Jerome, who co-own Saint Honoré with their spouses, said that their collaboration with Beauty to the Streetz began as a way to address the food waste they encountered during slower weeks.
“This community is small, so we just want to make sure we take care of each other,” Loudres said. “We are so honored to be part of it, because for us food is just a way to connect with people.”
7 million followers
On most mornings, Raines can be found passing out goods — hygiene products, bottled water, and, of course, donuts — as she makes her rounds between East Owens Avenue and West Bonanza Road. Just slightly north, Raines also hosts weekly lunches for the homeless at North Las Vegas’ Tonopah Park.
The menu, often entirely prepped and cooked in Raines’ home kitchen the nights before, typically consists of fried chicken, pasta or potato salad, and her famous peach cobbler. She told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that serving quality, homemade food is how she stays true to her roots.
A Compton, California-native, Raines described growing up and being “bad a— kid,” who was forced to “sit under” her grandmother to keep from getting into trouble elsewhere.
“This all comes from my nana,” she added. “I just watched her and repeated it.”
Since 2017, Raines, known for her colorful style — and sometimes makeup and hair — has amassed an audience of her own. Between Instagram and TikTok, she has nearly 7 million followers to whom she livestreams her conversations with people living on the streets, grocery runs, donation pick-ups, and more.
‘The makeup lady’
Immediately after high school, Raines said, she started “receiving welfare and having babies.” Before 40, she had buried one of her sons, who died after accidentally ingesting drugs in the care of a family member, and his father, who came down with colon cancer shortly after the boy’s death.
Raines described those years as a “blackout,” in which she experienced spurts of homelessness, overwhelming self-blame, and frequent suicidal thoughts.
“I looked like an angry black woman, and nobody thought to ask me what was wrong,” Raines said. “I was broken. I thought life was just pushing me over and over again.”
Also absent during this time in her life, Raines said, were choices.
Years later, when volunteering on Skid Row with a local church in Long Beach, she said she learned the value of restoring agency and confidence to those living on the streets. Raines said that those interactions birthed her non-profit.
“I started bringing clothes out there,” Raines said, adding that the decision was prompted by a few homeless transgender women who had complimented her style.
“Then, I realized I had 4,000 points racked up at Sephora. I used them to get sample mascaras. I also went to Dollar Tree to buy eyelashes and create makeup kits for them.”
Eventually, Raines was running a makeshift salon with folding chairs, Hefty trash bags as capes, and boxed hair dye in the alleyways of downtown Los Angeles. As she serviced more and more young homeless women, she became known as “the makeup lady,” and, in 2017, Raines officially changed her online account names to “Beauty2theStreetz.”
In 2021, Beauty 2 The Streetz was recognized by CNN Heroes, and, earlier this year, she won a NAACP Image Award, beating out other internet sensations and nominees like Kai Cenat and Keith Lee.
Run-ins with Metro
Since moving to Las Vegas in the fall, Raines has also documented her tense run-ins with the Metropolitan Police Department. Municipal court records show that, in February, she was ticketed for parking in an alley, and again in May for slow driving in a right lane and giving false information to a police officer.
Videos of the second incident, which happened on Mother’s Day, circulated on social media after Raines and the people she tried to feed that day accused the officers of using excessive force.
“Metro is run by ego, not consistency, Raines said, discussing the citations with the Review-Journal. “One cop will say ‘do this,’ and another will say something different. “While you’re saying I am breaking the law for ‘blocking traffic,’ you did not consider that people were not living like this when the streets were made and the law was created. So there is nowhere for me to stop and help.”
Raines added that, as she continues working in the valley, she hopes to find a middle ground with police.
Responding to Raines’ complaints with the department, Metro told the Review-Journal that its downtown area command leadership and community-oriented policing team have had “no formal contact” with Raines.
A public information officer with the department said they “would love to sit down with her and figure out ways for her to lawfully help our homeless population.”
‘Keeping them hydrated’
On Friday morning, after Raines sold roughly 200 donuts at Saint Honoré, she handed out 200 more to homeless people in the central valley. As the temperature inched closer and closer to triple digits, her white van, embellished with the purple and green Beauty 2 the Streets logo, stopped at several encampment sites like those alongside A Street and the D Street connector.
With the help of her security guard, she scooped ice into red solo cups, filling them to the brim. Since the summer started, Raines has also passed out umbrellas, ice pops, cooling rags.
At each stop, people left their tents and spots in the shade to join the line spilling from the side door of Raines’ vehicle. Some were shirtless or shoeless. Others poured water down their backs to fight the heat.
Last year, at least 350 homeless people died in Las Vegas, and 35 percent of the deaths were due to environmental heat stress, or heat in general. After nearly 500 people across the valley died of heat-related illness, 2024 became the deadliest year on record for Las Vegas.
Adjusting to the high temperatures, Raines has paused her makeup and hair services, trying to prioritize keeping the homeless cool and hydrated in the coming months.
“I got into this, not to solve homelessness, but to give these people just a little bit of comfort,” Raines said. “When I think about what I went through myself, I think about how horribly people talked to and treated me.”
After about 30 minutes at each stop, the line would subside, with each person being sent off with two donuts, a cold drink, and a verbal invitation to the next lunch in the park.
Raines, whose rubber sandals had begun to melt on the concrete, reminded one man: “Have a blessed day, King.”
Contact Akiya Dillon at [email protected]