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Wellness House, a facility that offers support to people with cancer and other life-challenging illnesses, has launched a new wigs and hats program.

Open since 1988, the Wellness House is located at 210 S. 11th Ave. in Yakima.

Anyone who has lost hair because of radiation or chemo-therapy can come into Wellness House to pick out a free wig to wear or even a hat, with hair attached.

Wigs have been loaned out for a number of years, but the new hat- with-hair service has just begun. Wellness volunteers gathered early this month for a wig-and-hat work party to create a supply of hats with hair attached.

Volunteers began by tearing apart wigs that had been slightly damaged and then reassembled the hair onto hats. Using fabric hook- and-loop fasteners, they attached the hair into the hats -- sun hats, baseball caps, wide-brimmed hats -- so they now have braids, bangs or ponytails.

Besides wigs, Wellness House now provides cancer patients with hats that come with hairstyles attached

By JANE GARGAS

YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Think of it as hair-raising -- in a good way.

Wellness House, a facility that offers support to people with cancer and other life-challenging illnesses, has launched a new wigs and hats program.

Open since 1988, the Wellness House is located at 210 S. 11th Ave. in Yakima.

Anyone who has lost hair because of radiation or chemo-therapy can come into Wellness House to pick out a free wig to wear or even a hat, with hair attached.

Wigs have been loaned out for a number of years, but the new hat- with-hair service has just begun. Wellness volunteers gathered early this month for a wig-and-hat work party to create a supply of hats with hair attached.

Volunteers began by tearing apart wigs that had been slightly damaged and then reassembled the hair onto hats. Using fabric hook- and-loop fasteners, they attached the hair into the hats -- sun hats, baseball caps, wide-brimmed hats -- so they now have braids, bangs or ponytails.

Lori Macke, who volunteered at the hat workshop, explained that the new hats offer more options for people who have lost their hair.

"Some people don't like the look of just a cap without hair, so we're working to get a supply done before summer," said Macke, who has been a volunteer at Wellness House for 20 years.

"It's a really neat, unique service," said Margaret Filkins, executive director of Wellness House.

Summer hats will be the prime objective right now because that's when the risk of sunburned heads is most likely.

Clients will have a variety of choices, Macke said, in hat type, hair style and even hair color. They can even select several hats to take home.

"What I love, and we all do, is when someone comes in saying they've lost their hair and then the look on their face, their whole demeanor, changes when they find a hat," Macke said.

People can also bring in their own hat to have it personalized with hair, Filkins said.