Emily Griffith Foundation

We are thrilled to celebrate the success of the Project HairCare pilot, made possible by a generous grant from UCHealth!

Barbers and stylists provide a sacred space where clients often share life’s heaviest challenges. Project HairCare, a program developed through the collaboration between the Colorado Black Health Collaborative and the University of Colorado School of Medicine Department of Family Medicine, trains barbers and stylists in the Black Community of Denver and Aurora in skills, tools and resources to help their clients who share their mental health challenges. Many of the barbers and stylists who completed the program wished they had learned these skills earlier in their career.

Based on this idea, Project HairCare and Emily Griffith Technical College partnered to build this idea into a reality. Emily Griffith faculty worked with community barbers from Project HairCare to refine and scaffold the Project HairCare curriculum, making it easier for our barbering and cosmetology students to learn, practice, and apply mental health support skills.

The result? A student-friendly program that empowers future stylists to help clients navigate anxiety, depression, and stress with real tools and resources.

Our pilot cohort wrapped in March with incredible feedback and success. A huge thank you to UCHealth for helping us turn the barber chair into a seat for community healing!