Styling the hair of a Biracial child

I am a social worker and unfortunately there are a lot of grandparents having to raise their grandchildren. I currently have a grandmother who is raising her two year old grand-daughter who is biracial. The Grandmother is caucasian and asked me, an african american about an orgranization she could join to get help with this issue.

I told her I did not know of any in Atlanta but that I would do some research and get back with her. If you could possibly assist me with locating an organization that will help her it would be greatly appreciated. You may e-mail me at proberts@co.douglas.ga.us.

In addition we also had the discussion about styling the child's hair which is what I call a combination. It is soft with kinky curls, and yes I said kinky curls there really isn't any other way to describe it. I told her my opinion as an african american of what products would be best on her hair since the child is only two.

I of course told her to stop shampooing it everyday because it has dried it out. I explained to her that unlike her hair which, she is caucasian with fine straight hair, her grand-daughter's hair requires moisturizing shampoo and conditioner to help it retain moisture and stay hydrated. She looked at me puzzled. I explained to her as her hair continues to grow it will get thicker and she will need to style it in pony tails. If not then the curls will continue to lock around one another and it will become more difficult to comb.

The grandmother expressed to me that it had been cut off once because of this issue and that the child cries when she tries to comb it out now. I literally had to show her how to comb the child's hair from the tip to the root and explain to her she needed to do it while it was wet and only after applying a leave in conditioner for children or using a very good detangler.

I hope you can help me out with locating an organization that will help her with difficulties she is going to face. In addition the grandmother already has experienced people, "friends" (caucasian) asking the question what is she mixed with.

Sadly for the first time in her fifty something years she is going to truly understand how it feels to be treated as a minority, by proxy. It is my sincere hope that she will then take that knowledge and educate her "friends".