Jhene Aiko's Wellness Brand Provides Massages For LA Wildfire First Responders - Essence

[Akili King]

Jason Ryan/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Earlier this month, a series of over 30 wildfires burnt down Los Angeles as one of the worst climate crises in the city’s history. Among the ashes, which have spread an estimated total of 37,700 acres, were more than 12,000 properties including singer Jhene Aiko’s Palisades home.

Two days after the fire began, on January 9, Aiko posted on Instagram her home was “burned to the ground with all of our things inside.” However, she “let suffering be a gift; a lesson in compassion.” With over 170,000 Californians still under an evacuation order, frontline workers, which consist of about 30% incarcerated firefighters, remain the most at risk.

With fire-fueling winds returning to the region and workers fighting to contain the firestorm, Aiko is holding space for healing, sending a team of masseuses to a first responders base for sessions of temporary relief. Partnering with the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation and mobile massage service Manly Handz, the crisis initiative is a first for her new wellness brand, Jhenetics.

Using the brand’s new products, like CBD-infused lotions, elixirs, and balm, massage therapists introduce homeopathic wellness solutions to help alleviate muscle pain, stress, and stimulate the body’s healing process. Melting stiffness and discomfort held in the shoulders, back, and arms, the service is meant to reduce some of the pain and anxiety frontline workers have built up over the past two weeks.

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“As we try to make sense of these tragic events, we have been moved to be of service to our first responders and families affected by the fires,” the brand says in a press release. “These challenging times are an opportunity to be there for one another and build a stronger community.”

Jhenetics massages will soon be available at donation centers, shelters and other locations around Greater Los Angeles.