Community

August 1, 2020  by

Bringing Freedom Through the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Initiative

FAITH. JUSTICE. FREEDOM

Human trafficking is the fastest growing organized crime in the U.S. This August, we have partnered with Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Initiative (NOVA-HTI), a local, Christian nonprofit combatting human trafficking, as our community outreach partner. The mission of NOVA-HTI is to prevent human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation, disrupt related networks, and restore those impacted. Their strategy is to network, serve, pray, and create awareness to mobilize the local Church and community to make a difference in its own neighborhoods and ultimately, eradicate human trafficking in Northern Virginia. NOVA-HTI stands on the front lines of human trafficking by connecting with the public, law enforcement, service providers, and volunteers to identify those being trafficked and provide intervention, crisis response and aftercare services. NOVA-HTI uses a trauma informed case management system requiring extensive training and re-training of their volunteers who work with victims to help them begin to trust again and who assist them in their long journey to freedom and healing and has served as a model across the nation to empower communities to recognize and eradicate trafficking.

In 2010, Congressional Representative Frank Wolf asked the local faith community to be involved in the fight against human trafficking in Northern Virginia. The Pastors Consortium, a local group of church leaders, heeded this call by forming a team call the Loudoun Human Trafficking Task Force. They decided the best way to fight human trafficking was to serve those already in the fight, such as government agencies, non-profits, and service providers, by funneling community members and resources to them and by creating awareness within the community. In early 2013, the group re-branded itself as the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Initiative, officially becoming a 501(c)3 organization.

Please join us in supporting NOVA-HTI organization by either considering a volunteer role or by donating to the cause, and by supporting them in prayer. We are donating $1 from every haircut we do in August toward this invaluable, local nonprofit.

Human Trafficking Stats

In the U.S., trafficking is widespread in major populations such as New York, California, and Texas. The North to South highway corridors along both coasts are also extremely popular travel routes for
quick exits to and from the U.S. Almost 80 percent of human trafficking is for sex while 19 percent is to exploit labor. There are in fact more human slaves in the world now than ever before in our
history. There are estimated to be 27 million adults and 13 million children who are victims of human trafficking. A startling fact is that human trafficking can include but does not require movement. There
are examples within communities where victims are enslaved through coercive and deceptive practices into a life of involuntary servitude including forced labor and debt bondage.

Another devastating effect of COVID-19 is the recent increase in Child sexual abuse images and online exploitation surge during pandemic. World Population Review indicates that so far in 2020 in Virginia there have been a reported 198 trafficking cases or 2.3 per 100,000 population.

 

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June 30, 2020  by

Windy Hill Foundation – our July community outreach partner

Our July community outreach partner is non-profit Windy Hill Foundation, located in Middleburg, Virginia. The foundation’s mission is to provide affordable, decent and safe housing for low and lower-income individuals, families, elders and adults with disabilities in both Loudoun and Fauquier Counties. The foundation provided 310 housing units in Loudoun and Fauquier in 2019 and supported no-cost onsite resident programs and services for those living in Windy Hill Foundation communities.

On-site programs consist of after-school academic and social programs, an eight-week drop-in summer day camp, tutoring programs during the school year, family, personal enrichment, social and health

programs for younger and older adult residents through committing $200,000 annually, alongside many generous organizational and individual donors and grantors from surrounding communities and the greater Washington DC area. The overarching goal of these programs is to help residents move from affordable to market rate housing.

Conceived in the mind and spirit of Irene (Rene) Llewellyn, a Middleburg resident born in England, the foundation began when Rene was waiting to pick up a child for a music lesson and witnessed the poverty on Windy Hill. She was so impacted that she was determined to help improve local living conditions along with a friend, Edna Washington. Rene’s plans blossomed from a  group of community members who formed the Windy Hill Foundation Charter Board, to include raising enough money to purchase the properties and then use Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds to pay for renovations of the homes. Over a 10-year initial revitalization period the community of 15 families who shared six outhouses and two cold water spigots transformed into totally renovated homes with water and sewer lines. The foundation realized during this initial time frame that the problem of inadequate, sub-standard housing and poverty was far greater than the small Windy Hill community.

By year twenty-five, 47 rental units throughout Middleburg had been acquired and renovated. By the 25th anniversary Windy Hill Foundation had built 186 affordable housing units throughout Loudoun Fauquier Counties. Rene’s dream went beyond housing to improving the resident’s needs and her philosophy drives the vision of Windy Hill today. 

During our July sponsorship period, Salon Khouri will donate $1 for every haircut we do and we encourage all of you to visit the Windy Hill Website to learn how you can help in other ways, including volunteering and direct donations.

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June 16, 2020  by

Kate’s Cause – Until Childhood Cancer is Extinct

Another June has arrived. Precious Kate Rhoades should have turned nine years old on June 5th this year. She should be running through her backyard smelling honeysuckle and chasing fireflies and looking out of her glass front door screen for foxes. Instead, her life was unfairly stopped short at just four and a half years young after a sudden and unexpected relapse of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

We vowed to the Rhoades family to tell her story, to do what we can to raise awareness for childhood cancer, and to perform Random Acts of Kateness in Kate’s memory. As a salon, we have also committed to donate, each June, $1 from every haircut we perform at Salon Khouri to Kate’s Cause, the foundation that Lindsay and Michael Rhoades created in Kate’s memory. Kate’s Cause is dedicated to raising awareness about childhood cancer, raising funds for less toxic treatments and ultimately a cure for childhood cancers, and giving back to the childhood cancer community. 

We encourage you to visit Kate’s Cause to learn what you can do to help beat childhood cancer. We also ask that you perform Random Acts of Kateness to honor Kate during June (#RandomActsOfKateness).  Find a neighbor who needs assistance going to the store or who needs help with their yard work; pay for the car behind you when you go through the drive-thru; offer to pay for a fellow shoppers’ items next time you go to a store. 

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May 28, 2020  by

Updated Reopening Plans

We are SO excited to be re-opening to our amazing SK Enthusiasts on Tuesday, June 2nd! Please have grace with us as we navigate the next few weeks. We will be operating at a 50% capacity over the coming weeks and by appointment only. Jonelle and Sydney have worked hard these past few weeks to get everyone rescheduled. If we missed getting to you, please know it was absolutely not intentional. We’ve never faced anything like this as a business – and definitely have never had to reschedule this many appointments not once, not twice, but three times for an entire salon. Whew!

Also, for the time being, we will not be offering blow dries – this is just for now. This will help us to get as many of you in as we are able.

If you are ill, we will reschedule your appointment, asking that you not come if you are under the weather.

Please minimize personal belongings being brought into the salon (perhaps just your cell, car keys and credit card). We are offering contact-free check out. Simply call us at 703.273.7878 to provide your credit card number and it will be stored in our secure, merchant processing system.

All of our service providers are Barbicide certified – we are trained and up-to-date on sanitation guidelines from the best in the industry and will be following an enhanced sanitation process in the salon. Our service providers will be washing their hands after every guest and we ask that you wash your hands upon entering the salon or use one of our many hand sanitizers available.

We also ask that you please do not bring guests with you to your appointment to reduce the number of people we have in the salon.

We are SO excited to be serving you again!!!! Thank you, always, for supporting your Salon Khouri team!

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May 6, 2020  by

Re-opening plans

Hello everyone!

UPDATE AS OF TUESDAY, MAY 12: Governor Northam extended the Phase 1 re-opening to the end of May for Northern Virginia (Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Arlington and Alexandria). Therefore, we are UNABLE to re-open May 15th as we had hoped. This will push our re-open date to Tuesday, June 2nd with capacity restrictions. This is, of course, if the deadline is not extended once again.

 

On behalf of the entire Salon Khouri team, we wanted to take a moment to say thank you for your loyalty and continued support! And, that we miss you!!!

Based on the Governor’s press conference on Monday, we are planning to re-open Salon Khouri on Friday, May 15th.

We are currently working with our team members to schedule their return-to-work dates. Some may not be able to return immediately due to family/childcare issues or concerns for health, so you will see a phased return to work for some of our team. We ask for grace and patience during this time.

  • Jonathan is returning Tuesday, June 2nd

For the time being, the remaining planned return dates are:

  • Becky, Iwona, Jelena, Heidi and Sydney are returning June 2nd
  • Kamen, Priya, Taylor, Michelle and Olivia are returning June 10th

Our manager, Jonelle Jones, is answering phones Monday – Friday from 10 AM to 5 PM at 703-273-7878. You can also text us at that number. Additionally, you can shoot us an email.

Thank you to everyone who has purchased gift certificates and products while we have been closed. We are continuing to offer FREE local porch delivery of our products (or we can ship for $5) and are drawing THREE winners each week to win a $25 gift certificate from everyone who purchases product or a gift certificate from us while we are closed due to COVID.

We are awaiting further guidance from the Governor’s office, coming this week, which will outline state regulations for salons and spas that will determine how many people can be in the salon any given time. Based on this number, it will limit us to the number of appointments we can accommodate at one time. We will therefore open earlier and stay later in order to get everyone in. We will have a shift from 8 AM to 2 PM and a second shift from 3 PM to 9 PM.

Additionally, please note the following:

  • Online booking will be turned off through June as of now. We really need to control the number of appointments we are able
  • We will continue with our increased sanitation efforts in the salon
  • We will continue use of disposable cups for the time being
  • Hand sanitizer available in the salon
  • We will not be offering paper magazines for the next month or two to minimize touchable services
  • We are offering contact-free checkout, if you prefer. To do so, we ask that you call our manager Jonelle at 703.273.7878 to provide your credit card information over the phone that will be stored in our secure, merchant processing system. When you checkout, just let us know we have your card on file.
  • We cannot accommodate walk-in appointments for the next two months
  • If you do not feel well, please call to reschedule your appointment, even at the last minute <3
  • Our team will be asked to stay home if they do not feel well and will be sent home immediately if they do not feel well
  • Our team will be wearing face masks for the time being

Thank you again for your continued loyalty to Salon Khouri. We look forward to serving you again soon!!

 

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April 1, 2020  by

Staying true to our mission

Dear SK Enthusiasts

We would like to share our company’s position about salons selling professional color to clients for at-home application, primarily for grey coverage. We understand why many salons are offering this in this very uncertain time for everyone: it helps bring revenue to the salon and seemingly helps clients who are eager to cover their roots. We *totally* understand that! After much thought, prayer, and a lively and lengthy team discussion of the pros and cons that included all of our stylists, Salon Khouri decided we will not be selling home color kits to our beloved clients. Here’s why:

Using and applying professional color is a skill set that stylists develop over a period of time, with many hours of training and hands-on practice. There are many risks associated with applying professional color at home by those who are not licensed that could not only damage your hair, but leave your hair color uneven and blotchy, ultimately leaving you with a costly color correction appointment at the end of the day. Applying color without proper sectioning leads to uneven coverage of the color. When you overlap color while applying, bands will be left in the hair color, leaving a very unnatural result. And, if your timing during application is not precise, you will have dark spots and/or light spots in your hair color. And a most concerning possibility is the chance that you get color in your eyes when applying your color.

It has *always* been our mission to help you love your hair. Sending you home with professional color (or even recommending box color) is incongruous with our mission.

However, keeping true to our integrity and mission and putting your best interest first, and wanting to offer an avenue that will best serve you at home until we can serve you again in person, we recommend using our WOW Root Cover Up product that we can deliver locally at no charge or for $5 shipping. We are offering the WOW Root Touch Up product for $29 and are asking that you please purchase through us and not at an online retailer as we will be using a portion of the proceeds of sales of this to purchase grocery gift cards for our SK Team members who need them. Additionally, for every $100 we sell in products (Kevin Murphy, Eleven or the WOW Root Touch Up) or Salon Khouri Gift Cards while we are closed due to COVID-19, we will be donating ten food items to Dulles South Food Pantry. Additionally, we are drawing three weekly winners to win a $25 Salon Khouri gift card from everyone who purchases product or gift cards from us during this time.

Just a few benefits of the WOW Root Touch Up product:

  • Covers grey seamlessly, even covers dark roots and extends highlights without peroxide
  • Precise application, no mess like sprays
  • Never stiff, sticky or waxy like mascaras and crayons
  • Looks completely natural, mimics hair’s reflective qualities
  • Water resistant formula, you can even swim in it, but washes out with shampoo
  • No waxes, dyes or parabens
  • Can also be used to fill in hairlines and cover gaps to create the look of thicker hair
  • Does not permanently change your hair color

To see how easy the WOW Root Cover Up is to use and apply, please watch the following short video:

We can recommend the right shade of the WOW Root Touch up based on your formula that we have in the system. If you are not a current client, simply shoot us a text of your hair color and we can recommend the right match. To order, please send us your name and cell number via email, text (703.273.7878), or phone at 703.273.7878 and we will call you back to process the order. You can also order online via our Salon Khouri phone app (available in your phone’s app store) or via our online booking site, with instructions here. It’s a secure system for online booking and will securely gather your card. Choose “Product” when using the site and enter which product(s) you’d like in the comments.

 

With love,

Jonathan and Jennifer Elkhouri
And the entire Salon Khouri team!

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March 26, 2020  by

Helping feed local families during the COVID-19 crisis

This month has certainly been one that no one could have imagined just weeks before.

We promise to be here for our community, even in this time. Typically, we donate $1 from each haircut to our monthly community outreach partner, but, not being able t

o perform haircuts would then hurt what we are able to give.

We’ve been so honored and blessed by SK Enthusiasts who have been buying gift cards and product from us during this time to show their support for our Salon Khouri team. We wanted to match this love back to our community and will be donating 10 food items to Dulles South Food Pantry for every $100 sold in online gift cards or online product purchases during this time.

We are grateful each day for our team, clients and our amazing community!

With love,

Jonathan and Jennifer Elkhouri

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March 17, 2020  by

Supporting small business during the COVID crisis and additional measures we are taking

As a follow up to our email from the 13th of March, we wanted to send an update on what we are doing to keep you and our team safe during the COVID-19 (aka, Coronavirus) outbreak. We are working diligently to keep our doors open, gathering wisdom and advice from experts. Also, we have come up with two ideas on how you can support Salon Khouri over the coming weeks: 1) Online Gift Card purchases (2) Online product purchases from Salon Khouri. Please view step-by-step instructions here.

In addition to the guidelines we sent last week (listed below), we are also shifting our schedules as rapidly as we can to ensure we have only ten people, with no more than fifteen people, in the salon at any given time. We are also asking that if you have travelled overseas in the past fourteen days or if you have been exposed to someone infected with COVID-19 in the last fourteen days, that you reschedule your appointment.

Measures we are taking:

  • Our team is sanitizing surface areas with Lysol (chairs, stations, door knobs, credit card machine, countertops, etc.) after every guest.
  • Our team members are asked to wash their hands with soap and warm water for a minimum of 20 hands frequently throughout the day.
  • We encourage guests to use our restrooms to wash hands with warm soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds as they leave the salon.
  • As of last week, we stopped serving beverages in glasses and mugs but have switched to single-use plastic.
  • As always, we are washing towels after every guest.
  • We are washing capes after every guest.
  • We are refraining from shaking hands or giving hugs – this one is hard for us as we love our guests so much! But, it’s because we love you that we are implementing this policy until Coronavirus has subsided.
  • We will keep front and rear doors of the salon open when we can to keep air circulation fresh. We also have expanded HVAC fans that pull air OUT of the salon that we use when doing keratin treatments or perms that will have running at all times.
  • Our team has been instructed to not come to work if they are feeling even the least bit under the weather.
  • If you feel ill in any way, we ask that you refrain from coming to your appointment. We will not be charging cancellation fees – please just do let us know either via text (703.273.7878), calling us (703.273.7878) or emailing us (saloninfo@blog1.salonkhouri.com) so that we do not worry about you!

Also, we are offering $3 flat shipping on any products directly to your home. If you are running low on shampoo or conditioner, please support us, a local small business. More than 80% of your dollars spent at a local business stay within the local community <3. Read here how to place an online order.

Mostly, please know that this time, stressful for so many, will pass. We have a hope that is greater than us, and we trust in the peace of that hope.

Warmly
Jonathan and Jennifer Elkhouri

P.S. We will definitely be hosting a healthcare workers THANK YOU event once this passes. These men and women are incredible in how they are serving our community — putting others before themselves.

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March 13, 2020  by

Precautions we are taking during the COVID-19 – Coronavirus outbreak

We wanted to take a quick moment to update you on what we are doing to keep you and our team safe during the COVID-19 (aka, Coronavirus) outbreak. We are working diligently to safely keep our doors open, gathering advice from CDC and local healthcare agency guidance:

  • Our team is sanitizing surface areas with Lysol (chairs, stations, door knobs, credit card machine, countertops, etc.) after every guest.
  • Our team members are asked to wash their hands with soap and warm water for a minimum of 20 hands frequently throughout the day.
  • We encourage guests to use our restrooms to wash hands with warm soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds as they leave the salon.
  • As of last week, we stopped serving beverages in glasses and mugs switching instead to single-use plastic.
  • As always, we are washing towels after every guest.
  • We are washing capes after every guest.
  • We are refraining from shaking hands or giving hugs – this one is hard for us as we love our guests so much! But, it’s because we love you that we are implementing this policy until Coronavirus has subsided.
  • We will keep front and rear doors of the salon open when we can to keep air circulation fresh. We also have expanded HVAC fans that pull air OUT of the salon that we use when doing keratin treatments or perms that will have running at all times.
  • Our team has been instructed to not come to work if they are feeling even the least bit under the weather.
  • If you feel ill in any way, we ask that you refrain from coming to your appointment. We will not be charging cancellation fees – please just do let us know either via text (703.273.7878), calling us (703.273.7878) or emailing us (saloninfo@blog1.salonkhouri.com) so that we do not worry about you!

Also, we are offering $3 flat shipping on any products directly to your home. If you are running low on shampoo or conditioner, please support us, a local small business. More than 80% of your dollars spent at a local business stay within the local community <3

Mostly, please know that this time, stressful for so many, will pass. We have a hope that is greater than us, and we trust in the peace of that hope.

Warmly
Jonathan and Jennifer Elkhouri

P.S. We will definitely be hosting a healthcare workers THANK YOU event once this passes. These men and women are incredible in how they are serving our community — putting others before themselves.

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February 1, 2020  by

Heeling House – our February Community Outreach Partner

Heeling House, Inc. is one of the pioneers in the field of Animal Assisted Interactions (AAI).  Since 2013, Heeling House has been providing Animal Assisted Interactions for  children with special needs in local schools, libraries, hospitals, and therapeutic centers in the Northern Virginia Area.

At its center in Sterling, they provide a variety of programs to meet children’s needs, from infancy through high school. The Heeling House Center offers animal assisted therapy, social skills groups, social clubs for teens, occupational therapy, reading therapy, summer camps, and obedience and therapy training for dogs. We also breed, whelp, and train service dogs specializing in Psychiatric and Autism task-work. These specially trained dogs learn to recognize behaviors that could lead to self-harm and will interrupt the pattern, keeping the child safe. The dogs provide calming support, for example, leaning against the child or placing their head in the child’s lap or laying over the child. These interactions benefit not only the child but also the parent as it decreases family stress levels.

Heeling House is a 501(c)3 and provides services for the entire DMV area. Please help spread the word about this valuable service for children with special needs. Check out their website at https://heelinghouse.org/. Salon Khouri is honored to be donate $1 from every haircut this February to Heeling House from our Fairfax and Dulles Landing locations.

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