Loyola Academy freshman Rosie Quinn is bald. She’s been bald since she was 2½, when she was diagnosed with alopecia, a condition in which the immune system attacks hair follicles.
While another kid may have hidden their baldness or been embarrassed by it, Rosie used her difference to create a nonprofit with her mom when she was just 4 years old. Coming Up Rosies aims to help other children with alopecia or those who have lost their hair to cancer treatment feel normal and celebrated.
Now 15, Rosie still uses her charity to support children whose health journeys make them different. As she has grown, the charity has evolved into supporting teens as well.
“I can act with more empathy because I know what it’s like to be an older kid and realize it is more than just putting a smile on your face and being happy for other people,” said Rosie, who attends St. Clement Parish with her family. “It’s relating to other people who are going through what you’re going through. It’s the good, the bad and the ugly about being different.”
Coming Up Rosies offers support in different ways.
The organization sends out Smile Kits, which include a drawstring bag, the book “My Hair Went on Vacation” written by Rosie’s mom Paula Quinn, a brochure on the organization, markers, a head scarf with a print drawn by a child and a handwritten “smile note” from a student whose class collaborated with Coming Up Rosies.
It also partners with children’s hospitals and child-life specialists nationwide to equip them with Smile Carts, which can be filled with art supplies for children in the hospital. If a child-life specialist does not want the actual cart, the organization will provide a $200 Amazon gift card to purchase art supplies.
The organization has donated over 6,000 Smile Kits and 86 independent children’s hospitals have active Coming Up Rosies programs.
After Rosie was featured on the cover of Scholastic magazine in 2022, teachers from around the country reached out to get copies of “My Hair Went on Vacation” to use it in lessons. Rosie joins their classes over Zoom when she can.
“I had all of these teachers all over the U.S. emailing me,” Paula Quinn said.
The students make an art project in class to be turned into a scarf that will go into a smile kit. Afterward, Rosie will send them a video showing what they accomplished.
“It comes full circle,” Paula Quinn said.
Coming Up Rosies started out by sending kits to children in hospitals. The kits included a canvas for the children to paint and send back. Then the Quinns would turn the canvas into a scarf for the child who made it.
The Smile Kits it sends out now are a little different, since they come with a scarf designed by another child. They can go to children with different kinds of health issues.
“It’s a great way for us to associate with younger kids,” Rosie said. “They don’t have to have a difference to make a difference in their community. … You don’t even have to have a physical difference. The point is there’s always something that makes us different and makes us stand out from people.”
Rosie and her mother also started making “Rosie-isms,” weekly short YouTube videos where Rosie reflects on various topics.
“I want people to hear from me and my story and how I navigate having a difference,” Rosie said.
It is especially important to provide a different perspective in a world obsessed with perfection on social media, she said.
“You see everyone at their best and it makes you not feel your best,” Rosie said. “I talk a lot about struggles I’ve had, because I want other people to see the vulnerability of being different too. I’m not always a happy person. It’s very hard to be happy, especially in a society where the beauty standard is exceedingly high and unrealistic.”
They also talk about stereotypes. For example, sometimes people approach Rosie and share their cancer stories because they assume her baldness is a result of chemotherapy.
“And how you make a transition into high school with 2,000 kids and no one knows what you have,” she said. “I’ll give advice too.”
Coming Up Rosies has a teen board that helps with special events and research. They compiled information about 200 independent children’s hospitals that they haven’t reached out to yet. Reaching out to those hospitals is the next step for the organization.
And now that she’s older, Rosie tries to reach out to teenagers in the hospital more.
“They are often overlooked,” Rosie said. “We try to make everyone feel seen and heard through Coming Up Rosies. We’ve realized that kids and teens especially in the hospital just want normality in their lives.”