About Our Founder

The Healing Hair Initiative was founded in 2010 after Katherine witnessed the impact that severe hair matting could have on hospitalized pediatric patients. Recognizing that basic hair-care supplies can easily be overlooked during a hospital stay, she began collecting brushes, detangler, conditioner, and other hair-care items to help children maintain comfort, dignity, and a sense of normalcy while receiving medical care.

Years later, while in medical school, Katherine relaunched the initiative and began partnering with Child Life teams to develop a hospital-based donation program. Since that relaunch, more than 6,000 comfort-focused hair-care items have been provided to Child Life services for pediatric patients.

The Healing Hair Initiative aims to address a simple but often overlooked aspect of pediatric care by making practical hair-care resources more accessible to children during hospitalization.