Youth Mentor Program

My name’s Christiane Helmer, and I’m from Palo Alto, CA. I’m currently a sophomore at UC Berkeley and am majoring in Molecular Cellular Biology and Public Health. I’m hoping to work in the medical field. Some of my interests are music, fitness/nutrition, and environmental sustainability. I’ve also been dancing for about 11+ years and love it. I’m currently 18 and was diagnosed with Alopecia Areata the summer before my junior year when I was 15. Within months, it quickly progressed to Alopecia Universalis. I felt incredibly self-conscious going to school in the fall with my “new look.” I had no hair whatsoever for most of my junior year and wore a cap almost every day. I tried many treatment options: steroid injections, topical sprays, Chinese medicine, and Xeljanz. After a few months of taking Xeljanz, I noticed significant regrowth, so I decided to stick with it. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned from having Alopecia is that you just have to listen to your feelings. I felt a lot of pressure to embrace being bald when people said, “You look great! Just embrace it!” While they had good intentions, the reality was that embracing was sometimes challenging and uncomfortable. I realized that I didn’t have to embrace it when I didn’t feel like it and that doing that was perfectly okay. Everyone has their unique ways of handling their struggles, and I hope I can help my fellow Alopecians through theirs!

Hi, my name is Jamil Wilkerson. I am originally from Indiana, but as a military brat also lived in Texas and Hawaii. I am currently a student at the University of Southern California studying sociology with hopes of attending law school after. Looking back, as a young kid I developed alopecia and never imagined still having it. Through it all, I have become a more sensitive and compassionate person. This is my first encounter with NAAF and I am thrilled for it!

Hi, I’m Caroline! I am currently in graduate school in Amherst, Massachusetts. I study geology and am getting my masters studying tsunami risk in Japan. Before this, I grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and went to undergraduate at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. In terms of hobbies, I love to hike, rock climb, run, watch movies, cook new recipes, and learn new things. I was diagnosed with alopecia universalis about 4 years ago while at Lafayette, when I turned 20. It all happened pretty quickly for me: my hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes all went within a few months. I do own a wig, but don’t wear it very frequently. Even though my experience with alopecia was very recent, I know that without it I would be a very different person today. I have really become able to embrace and love who I am, no matter what that entails. Because of how alopecia has changed me, I feel inspired to talk to others about their experiences and especially work with children and younger people that are going through this. Alopecia is challenging for everyone, but with some help you can come out stronger and more confident on the other side.

Hi my name is Morgan! I am from St. Louis, MO and I have struggled with alopecia since the age of 4. As a child, my hair began to fall out and I remember asking Santa around Christmas time very year that it would finally grow back. My Christmas wish. **laughs to self. I used some topical products for a few years but never saw any improvement. However, at that time the hair loss was noticeable but gradual which was probably the best because it would’ve freaked me out seeing it fall out drastically! I’d say I was able to live a pretty normal life. I learned at an early age hair styles to hide it and literally mastered it to the point where people never knew. For the most part, I still had a thick head of hair and that was a plus because it allowed for me to keep it a secret for years. Years! My best friends never even knew until a few years ago after asking why I was in such distress about my hair. The process of my hair loss has sped up recently and it scares me like crazy but I have decided to no longer be ashamed of it or quiet about it. It is my hope that I can educate others about it and help them realize that women are just as beautiful with or without hair!

Born and raised in the DC Metropolitan Area, I am the 4th of 5 girls in my family. I lost my hair when I was 11-- between my 6th and 7th grade years. I ended 6th grade with a full head of hair and by the time I started 7th grade, had only a few hairs remaining. I never shaved my head, proudly kept each hair until there were none. I chose not to wear wigs or head coverings at the time, and although it was hard to adjust, it was nice to have people ask questions about why I was bald. Since I was 11, I have been completely bald with alopecia universalis (yes, that also includes no eyebrows and no eyelashes-- which people tend to not even notice most of the time!), and I've officially been bald significantly longer than I had hair (11 years with, 16 years without)! When I was 17, I went to college at BYU in Utah where I later joined my first NAAF support group. I've helped host a few events for kids and teens with alopecia, as well as working alongside others with alopecia to create an environment of inclusion and support. I got married in 2016 and after moving across the country twice-- 1st from Utah to Virginia, 2nd from Virginia to Tennessee-- I now reside with my husband and our new baby boy in Columbia, TN. I love to cook, write music and perform, spend time outdoors, do arts and crafts, and spent my free time being as silly and ridiculous as possible (I'd like to think I'm pretty funny)! Although at times I like to dress up and wear different wigs, I have learned over time to be comfortable and confident in who I am and in being bald :) Super excited to have some good times with new
friends and I'm looking forward to trying some new things too!

Hello everyone! My name is Dionne Glover and I am from Columbus, OH. I am a senior at The Ohio State University majoring in theoretical mathematics. I discovered that I had alopecia when I was 15 years old. My hair loss was a very rapid progression. I first started out with a few bald patches, but within a few months, all of the hair was completely gone on my head. This became very hard for me to deal with because I also had to deal with the challenges that came with high school. I chose to wear a wig during this time and it eventually served as my security blanket. A year later, I was fortunate enough to have all of my hair grow back. To this day, I still struggle with patches, along with the fear of the unknown. I have never been open about my alopecia, which is why I want to become a mentor. I want to have the opportunity to help my mentee(s) through these times that could prove to be difficult. I had a great support system during high school which helped me process the situation, so I want to be able to lend that hand to someone else. Currently, my interests include both makeup and fashion. I also enjoy hanging out with my friends and binge-watching shows on Netflix. I am eager to offer any advice to my mentee(s) and to help them out in any way!

Hi everyone, I’m Kayla! I grew up in North Jersey but currently am attending the University of Pittsburgh as a sophomore with a major in Communication Science Disorder. In my free time, I like to explore Pittsburgh (absolutely amazing city), go on hikes, play basketball, or really any type of sport, and am pretty much open to doing anything. I got diagnosed with alopecia summer going into my senior year of high school, when I noticed I had a missing patch on the back of my head at the hairline. As senior year went on I was doing pretty well, another spot popped up but it wasn’t terrible, until about January and alopecia did its magic and poof all my hair fell out in a matter of two weeks. Right in the middle of basketball season too, it was really hard for me to even comprehend what was going on. I was very self-conscious and embarrassed of what was going on, and I think that is because I did not think anyone would understand or even be able to relate/not know what alopecia is. I wore a wig full time, didn’t tell anybody about what was going on except for my two best friends. I tried so many different remedies to get my hair, since different things work for everybody I wanted to try them all. I felt really alone, no matter how much I talked to my therapist or best friends it didn’t help because they don’t have the experience of going through loosing your hair, so it was super difficult. I found ways to cope and learned how to become more comfortable with myself. I struggled with some mental health problems, but I was very lucky to have a really supportive parents and sisters who all helped me go through a lot. I look back on the experience and I know I am a different person today, a better person because of it. I hope to talk to someone who I can relate to and support them through a tough journey. Own alopecia, don’t let it own you!

My journey of accepting Alopecia started with intense denial and defensiveness of anything being wrong with my body, obnoxious behavior (think ‘Mean Girls’ minus the bullying) and finally maturing really quickly to have to cope with it. It’s been 17 years now, and I can proudly say that I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve lived and studied in 3 continents, speak on body issues and harnessing self confidence in various business schools in India, am a Diversity & Inclusion champion, and do not feel like I’ve lost out on any of life’s experiences. I choose to not wear a headpiece or a covering because of India’s tropical weather but do own one for that one odd day a year that I feel like it. I’ve been privileged to have a very solid support system in my close friends and family and thereby have rarely had confidence issues. I am now very used to being a person who gets a lot of attention and stares, and that’s the only thing I have to struggle to get used to and compartmentalize; because I am an introvert.

Alopecia has been instrumental in shaping me as a person - I am a lot more aware of my strengths, less vain, have more perspective and in my effort to compensate for the lack of an “ideal” appearance when I was a teenager, I focused all my drive towards cultivating an intellectual curiosity. I now shuttle between India and North Carolina (where my husband is currently based) and have been wanting to be a part of NAAF for decades! The only thing that I did not have growing up,
is a community of people going through similar challenges. It will be incredibly gratifying if I can help anyone who feels the same (or their family), navigate this complex period in their lives.

Hello, my name is Sasha and I am a born and raised New Yorker. I work in NYC as a full-time accountant and a part-time English tutor. Developing alopecia in my young adult life really affected my sense of self and identity. At that time, I did not know how to cope with the emotional stress and had little knowledge or access to the available resources. In time, I found the support of great people who helped me learn more about this disease and encouraged me to stay positive. With their help, I learned everything I could know about alopecia and the tools available to overcome it. I’m proud of the strides I’ve made and the skills I’ve acquired that help me to feel like myself again. I think every journey is a little bit different but we can definitely learn from each other. I would like my role to be someone who can understand, support, and empathize with you and your family. Together we can carry ourselves through this journey.

Born and raised in Syracuse, NY, I am the middle child of 5 kids (4 girls and 1 boy). I started losing my hair when I was around 8 years old. No one in my family had experienced hair loss like this before, so I remember going to doctors to figure out what was going on. We tried lots of different treatments, but nothing seemed to be helping. I remember the embarrassment, shame, sadness, and anxiety I felt whenever going out in public or having people in my own home. At times, I felt like no one could ever love me looking the way I did. I experienced bullying at school and was often asked if I had cancer. I was afraid to wear a hat to school, as I did not want to draw attention to myself. I was afraid to go into a pool and get my hair wet, as it made my bald spots show even more. Overall, Alopecia made me afraid of many things.
From these experiences, I decided I wanted to spend my life helping children and adolescents that experience anxiety and sadness. Now living in Connecticut, I am currently living that dream as a Licensed Professional Counselor (basically a therapist), working with people of all ages (mostly kids) that struggle with this stuff. On my free time, I love spending time with my 4-year-old identical twin boys, Louis & Luca, going to the beach, doing arts and crafts, trying new foods, listening to music, and laughing as much as possible!
When I signed up for this program, I could only think about how my life may have been different if I had someone growing up going through the same thing as me. I hope to provide that for you. From my view, things do not seem as scary when we don’t have to go through them alone. Please reach out with any questions. I look forward to connecting with you!

Hey there! My name is Danielle, I'm 19 years old and I've had alopecia areata since I was 2 1/2 years old. When I was younger, I struggled with bullying and fitting in. I felt like no one understood me because no one else around me had alopecia. Despite being so young, I was in a very dark and unhappy place. It took years for me to accept my alopecia and learn to love myself. Attending the NAAF conferences as a camper/camp counselor and being involved with the alopecia community truly helped me accept my alopecia. I'm happy with myself now and don't let alopecia bring me down. If anything, I let it empower me. I’m currently a sophomore in college. My major is Music Education and I'm studying to be a music teacher. Besides music being one of my passions, I really love to travel/explore. I love going on hikes, going to different restaurants, and seeing new sights. I'm also a fan of arts and crafts. I love self-expression and creating new things! Looking forward to meeting you soon and helping in any way I can!