Turning hardship into beauty: Jo Lam’s nonprofit supports women, children in abusive situations

Jo Lam is no stranger to life’s hardships. 

Lam was a victim of years of family trauma and abuse.

“It affected how I lived my life and my self-esteem,” Lam says. “When you don’t really know who you are, you can’t really love yourself, and you tend to pick the wrong people.” 

Lam was a Hong Kong immigrant living in New York. Her family made the move to Texas in her teens. Due to the stress of living in an abusive environment, Lam ran away from home at age 16 and tried to make it on her own. 

However, due to the difficulties of being on her own at such a young age, Lam found herself in the hands of another abuser at the age of 17 who disguised himself as someone who could save her from her problems. 

Lam gained the strength to escape this relationship and ended up in a shelter. Having that experience of living and rebuilding her life in a shelter gave Lam a passion to help other women in Texas find the light in the darkness. 

Lam did not realize it, but the seed for her nonprofit Project Beauty had already been planted. 

Lam believed these shelters did a good job of giving women and children a safe place to go for basic necessities, but they didn’t provide opportunities to build a community and make connections that would allow them to rebuild their lives. 

In 2018, Lam found a loving relationship, was married and raising her two boys. She was finally happy with life, but something was missing. She felt a nudge within herself. She knew there was something more she could do. 

“I felt like it was time for me to really give back to the community, do something more with my life,” Lam says. “Going through several of those tragedies within my life had finally given me a purpose and mission in life. I felt in my heart that this was what I need to do.” 

Lam did not know anything about starting a nonprofit, but she did not let that stop her. 

In 2018, Lam started Project Beauty, which provides beauty services to women and children going through difficult circumstances. 

The group focuses on individuals who have experienced different types of trauma, domestic violence, homelessness and sex trafficking. It aims to help individuals who may lack education, support and resources. The group’s mission is to “spread empowerment through the universal language of beauty by helping women build confidence, hope and provide support and encouragement for each other.” 

Project Beauty offers four core programs: Beauty Days, Trauma Healing, The Gift of Beauty and The Angel Clinic. 

The Angel Clinic started from a woman that reached out to Lam and Project Beauty seeking assistance. The woman had lost her eyesight and hearing from being punched while pregnant in an abusive relationship. She was seeking help to start over. 

Lam was touched by the woman’s story. 

“I saw myself. When I was branded and left to die, all of that physical disfigurement, all that turmoil, nobody really understood it,” Lam says. “Unless you walk that path, you have no idea, the emotional anguish and the anger and all that healing that needs to happen.” 

The woman found a doctor who could provide a prosthetic eye, however she lacked the money to cover the costs. Lam and the Project Beauty paid for her entire procedure. They raised all of the funds within two days, took her to the doctor and sat by her side during the procedure. 

Project Beauty gave her a complete head-to-toe makeover including a new photoshoot to help start a new chapter in her life. From that day forward, The Angel Clinic has provided women with a space to remove brandings, tattoos and disfigurements that remind survivors of their traumatic passes. Project Beauty covers 100% of the costs and provides each survivor with therapeutic aftercare. 

Project Beauty serves women throughout Preston Hollow, Plano and the DFW area. The group works regularly with nine shelters: The Samaritan Inn, Mosaic Family Services, Buckner, Denton County Friends of Family, Hope’s Door New Beginning Center, Frisco Family Services, Little Mended Hearts and Brighter Tomorrows. 

Volunteers and donations are always welcomed at Project Beauty. Lam and Project Beauty are always looking for the next woman needing encouragement through the power of beauty, too. 

“I’ve already seen so many women impacted through this program,” Lam says. “Women come into the space and say, ‘I’m broken. I just need some help,’ and that’s what we do. We come in, and we say, ‘You’re not broken, and we will see you.’”