Meet The Founder
Pamela Coffey
Pamela Coffey moved to Kalamazoo from Chicago IL. in 1981 and went to Tracy Beauty Academy. “After graduating from the Tracy Beauty Academy, she has worked as a Hair Stylist in her aunt's salon - Louise Beauty Shop, on Rose St. She also worked as a stylist in Chicago IL. Pam then opened “Felicity Salon” downtown Kalamazoo. While owning the salon she passed the state board to become a licensed Cosmetology Instructor from the Empire Beauty School. Pam worked as a hair stylist for 35 years until her retirement in 2016.
More recently Pam has engaged in, yet another, entrepreneurship adventure by opening the “Luxe Boudoir” lingerie store with her daughter Yolanda, now the “Luxe Gifts.” The "Lux Gifts" is a gift shop geared towards women and all things feminine. The latter is still in operation in downtown Kalamazoo, and one can have a glimpse of Pam decorating her storefront or entertaining a client.
Pam's life story can not only be measured in terms of her personal successes, but also in terms of efforts required for a person, especially a woman of color, to face adversity and overcome it. Pam comes from a low-income family from Chicago IL. She grew up in an environment with limited educational opportunities, early exposure to recreational drugs, and trauma and abuse, both as a child and as a young adult. Despite these trials and tribulations, Pam rose to the challenge and was able to create multiple and successful business endeavors, and create, maintain, and grow Healthy House, a recovery home for women in transition. And, in spite of racial, gender, and cultural barriers, she successfully raised her daughter as a single mother, after almost losing her to the court system because of her addiction. In Pam’s own words, borrowed from one of her interviews with Encore Magazine, "I remember walking into the doors of the Gateway Treatment Center on March 26, 1996, after twenty years of active addiction. I was court-ordered to go to treatment and my daughter had become a ward of the state. On March 26, 2019, I had 23 years of being clean from all drugs... I can totally relate to the cultural, racial, economic and gender barriers that the women we serve have to address and overcome in order to become responsible productive members of our community."
Pam has been and still is an active participant in our recovery community for 28+ years. She has collaborated with community organizations, philanthropies, and community leaders to address the issue of women in need of recovery in Southwest Michigan. She is a loving wife and mother as well as a successful business woman and a community advocate for women in many aspects of their lives. Pam's life struggles and her life work demonstrate that despite adversity, addiction and trauma, it is possible with support from one's community, to find the strength, compassion, and ability to create an organization from the ground up, while running a business.
Pam’s story is not just a story of success and contribution; it is a story of resilience, empathy, and gift to the women of Southwest Michigan. If one can inspire through their actions and life-stories Pam does her share. She is a role model for other women in need and can show what recovery and success can look like. Pam demonstrates to the world, to women, and to young girls, that no matter what, there are ways that one can survive and even thrive. At Healthy House we all feel blessed to have crossed her path. We think you will too.
To learn more about Ms. Pam, click the links below.
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