Erica Ford

Photo: Donna Alberico

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When you're busy cooking holiday meals for 500, who has time for a manicure? These phenomenal women spend most of their waking moments taking care of others—and often rebuilding lives. So in the spirit of the season, for one unforgettable day, hairstylist Ken Paves, fashion stylist (and founder of Glam4Good) Mary Alice Stephenson, and makeup artist Sarah Lucero took very, very good care of them.

Erica Ford, Age 48 (Before)

Founder, LIFE Camp, Inc.

Her Rescue Mission: As a teenager in Queens, New York, in the 1980s, Erica watched the crack epidemic claim the lives of friends and neighbors. She vowed to do something to stem the carnage. Her foundation, LIFE (Love Ignites Freedom through Education) Camp, Inc., promotes violence prevention in schools, with programs that range from group counseling to hip-hop yoga. "If kids can find something positive inside, they'll quit taking out their pain on themselves and each other," Erica says.

Above: Erica leads an all-ages yoga class on the playground of the Baisley Park housing project in Jamaica, Queens. "It's important to show young people there's a bigger world out there than what's on their block," she says.

To learn more about Erica's mission for peace, go to PeaceisaLifestyle.com.