OTISCO TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Even as the governor eases restrictions on the stay home order, many businesses remain closed.

The virus’ impact on the economy is touching Michiganders all over the state, but one rural salon in Ionia County came up with something to lift everyone’s spirits.

“I have been closed down and it’s been very hard to tell you the truth,” said Kim Thorington, owner of the Treehouse Salon in Otisco Township.

But outside on the street corner is hope.

“You know, we need something positive in this world to bring people together to get us through this whole ordeal because it’s a big one,” she said.

She got online and invited people all the way from Lansing to the lakeshore for the simplest pep rally around, calling it the “Poles of Hope.”

“I just did kind of a little live shoot and talked to the background and it has grown like crazy,” Thorington said.

More than 64 words of encouragement have been anonymously posted to poles — a number she says rivals the town’s population.

And even though it’s her idea, the words have inspired her just the same.

“There’s been days where, you know, when I am reading them, it makes me feel good knowing that those words are out there,” she said. “That if I’m feeling down, I can go out there and look at them.”

And if there’s one person that’s been affected in a positive way, the pole project has paid off.

“They can say, ‘Hey, there is hope out there,'” Thorington said. “We are going to do this, we can get through this and we are going to get through this.”

The Treehouse Salon is located at 4997 White Bridge Road in Smyrna, Michigan.