Contrary to what some might expect, Steven Stewart is happier now than he was eight years ago, before he became fully blind.
“I’m in a better place now than I was back then — physically, emotionally, mentally — just all of the above,” said Stewart, who opened Unsighted Massage in September, housed within Nicole Richards Hair Salon on 159th Street in Orland Park.
Stewart says he wouldn’t have made the jump into massage therapy, from working as a forklift driver in a cold storage warehouse, without having gone blind. Now, the Tinley Park resident hopes to give back by providing free massages to five single parents in the community, selecting them randomly through social media entries.
Why single parents? Stewart dedicates his current and future success to one of them, his mom. He said now in his 30s, he’s come to understand that she gave everything to him and his siblings when they were growing up and wants to show his appreciation to others in similar circumstances.
“A lot of my overhead is my time and my hands, and I don’t mind giving that to people,” Stewart said.
He promoted his first massage giveaway in November, after as many as 2 million Illinoisans lost their SNAP benefits during a federal government shutdown. Stewart said he was moved by news stories of families struggling to afford food and other basic necessities and wanted to help how he could.
He received some unexpected support from Tracy Beagarie, who found Stewart on social media and booked a massage a few days before he announced the giveaway. The two hit it off during her appointment, and Beagarie offered to make charcuterie boards to give to the single parents along with their massages.
She said she chose to give the boards out anonymously, believing “you don’t always need the recognition” for doing nice things. Beagarie plans to make cookies for Stewart to distribute to the current group of parents who receive free massages.
“I have an almost 13-year-old daughter, and the one thing I really instill in her is to be kind,” Beagarie said. “To see his post just kind of hit that heart string for me.”
The two ended up giving to more people than planned, at least 10, as Stewart was affected by the many stories left in his social media comment section, which became even more emotional in person.
“I had one client who broke down in tears just because of how bad she was struggling,” Stewart said of one appointment. “In the massage profession, you have to keep boundaries, but it’s hard when you come across someone who’s kind of breaking down and crying. I want to hug you, but I can’t.”
However, he said several people misrepresented their situations, and he emphasized that only single parents should sign up for the current giveaway.
Nicole Richards Salon owner Mary Lynn Fleck is another of Stewart’s supporters and clients. She said having worked at the salon since she was a teenager, she hasn’t seen another massage therapist renting the back room have as much drive and consistency in clientele as Stewart.
Fleck was diagnosed with breast cancer soon after buying the salon in February, and Stewart has helped her via lymphatic drainage, a light-touch therapy that aims to redirect excess fluid away from swollen limbs.
She said her doctors referred her to a practitioner in Chicago, but she is grateful to have been able to receive the therapy from Stewart once a week.
“It was the best night’s sleep I got throughout my whole chemo treatment,” Fleck said. “I feel like I always need to say that, because when I tell you, from the time I found out (I had cancer) until having surgery, the only time I slept during the night was when I had my treatments from him.”
Fleck said at the end of every night, she or another salon professional walks Stewart out of the building, and “one of the best compliments” was to hear that he felt safe coming to work there.
“I think we both just clicked, because he had something happen to him that he would never in his wildest dreams have ever thought, and the same is with me,” Fleck said. “So the first conversation we had, it was like, oh my gosh, we can relate so much to different things.”
Stewart’s interest in giving back to the community through free massages also aligned with Fleck’s goals for the salon, and Fleck believes his work to build a business while helping others “is the best thing you could do.”
“There are not many people who could have their sight taken away and turn around and give back as much as Steven has given back,” she said. “Whatever he wants, I fully support him. Anything we can do to help him, we’re all there.”
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
