Philly man gives haircuts to more than 8,000 experiencing homelessness
Citizen of The Calendar week: Joshua Santiago
Having given more than than 8,000 free haircuts to people experiencing homelessness in Philly and beyond, one local father is serving up non just style, but dignity
Jul. 19, 2021
While most of his friends are off watching Paw Patrol, five-year-onetime Jaivian would much rather watch videos almost how to give a abrupt haircut.
That's because Jaivian's dad is Joshua Santiago, a Northward Philly native who, for the final six years, has been giving free haircuts to people experiencing homelessness through his nonprofit, Empowering Cuts.
From the time the elder Santiago was a kid, he too had always dreamed of becoming a barber—he always felt like his about confident cocky with a fresh cut. At age 24, in 2015, he took the bound to go to barber school, after kickoff going back to school to earn his high school diploma.
It was while attending barber school in Wilmington—a training program he sought out for its financial assistance, despite its two-60 minutes commute from Philly—that Santiago was tasked by one of his instructors with providing haircuts at shelters.
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"Being able to provide free haircuts to someone who was homeless meant more to me than to actually receive money for it," he says.
Santiago began taking trips to Kensington in 2017, equipped with extension cords that he would adhere to his car in order to plug in his clippers; he started budgeted people on the street, offering to cut their hair. The response? Overwhelmingly positive.
Over the course of the last six years, in between working paid jobs like driving for rideshare companies, he estimates that he'due south given effectually 8,000 cuts. Until recently, the work, which he does under the auspices of his nonprofit, Empowering Cuts, was entirely self-funded, though he recently received his start-ever grant.
More only a uncomplicated trim
Santiago's early experiences witnessing drug habit motivated him to serve Kensington, an area he feels a connection to given his childhood in North Philly. And about six months ago, he decided to take his skills beyond his hometown. Through a GoFundMe that raised $seventy,000, he purchased an RV and outfitted it with all the tools a hairdresser needs. And then he hit the road, heading to California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Texas, with the goal of empowering citizens nationwide with haircuts.
No matter where he goes to provide haircuts, "it's [e'er] hugs, tears and a million thank y'all," Santiago says. He believes that the conviction someone derives from a haircut is noticeable, especially when they oasis't had one for a long time; but the deeper impact, he says, comes from another person taking the fourth dimension to interact and care for them.
"Being able to provide free haircuts to someone who was homeless meant more to me than to actually receive coin for it," Santiago says.
Experts at Project HOME, the Philly nonprofit dedicated to uplifting those experiencing homelessness, agree. "A haircut itself can be great, [and] the actual acts of service itself can be therapeutic and empowering," says Kara Cohen, a nurse practitioner at Project Dwelling. "Experiencing homelessness can be so isolating, And then there is value in making eye contact with folks. There is value in speaking kindly to people, beingness present for people, hearing their stories. Information technology is powerful to provide a service where they are at the centre of a really positive interaction."
"Homelessness is [often] wrapped effectually drug addiction," Santiago says. "[Nosotros need to] treat these individuals similar humans. Some people don't even give them a adventure. Nosotros're talking about individuals who got high for the first fourth dimension with their mom or dad, [kids] shooting heroin since the age of nine." But despite their circumstances, those experiencing homelessness, he says, are "some of the about beautiful people that I've always met."
Second chances
Santiago knows the importance of second chances. Fending for himself as a kid while his parents were consumed by addiction, he first ran into problem with the constabulary at the age of xiii; in 2016, he was incarcerated for drug-related charges. Now, as an adult, he lives a life of empathy and kindness; he recently participated in a charitable challenge, "seven random acts of kindness in seven days." He took seven people experiencing homelessness to clothing and sneaker stores, to reconnect with family, and to restaurants to share a meal.
None of this is to say that haircuts provide a solution to homelessness, particularly in Philadelphia, where, co-ordinate to Projection Domicile, there are xix,988 people currently experiencing homelessness. (Of annotation: Elizabeth Grand. Hersh, director of Philly'south Office of Homeless Services, reports that Philly is actually bucking the national trend on homelessness: Nationally, the numbers are going upwards; locally, they are going down.)
RELATED: 15+ ways you tin can aid those experiencing homelessness in Philly
But haircuts and hygiene support can exist a gateway to other services. Have Clean the Earth, an international nonprofit that provides people experiencing homelessness with, yes, soap and sanitation and hygiene tools, only uses those tools as entry points to transition folks to housing, treatment, and chore placement services.
According to Make clean the World, admission to hygiene and wellness services tin can decrease homelessness by 35 percent; Make clean the Globe's model decreases the likelihood and severity of infections, a cistron that tin can perpetuate the bike of homelessness.
"Homelessness is [oft] wrapped effectually drug addiction," Santiago says. "[Nosotros need to] care for these individuals like humans. Some people don't even give them a adventure.
6 months later the implementation of the Fresh Outset Launder (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) and Wellness Program in Las Vegas, Clean the World recorded a 15 percent reduction in the city'south homeless population. The program offered mobile showers, Covid-19 testing and other wraparound services.
1 of Santiago's goals with the mobile barber shop is to partner with other organizations, to become individuals the services that they demand; local treatment centers, for instance, could exist potential partners.
During the pandemic, Santiago has been using his mobile barbershop not simply to requite cuts, just as a promotional tool: In May, he parked the RV at an issue with All In Solutions Counseling Center in New Bailiwick of jersey, aslope other vendors like nutrient trucks, to generate involvement in the arrangement. A three-on-3 basketball game tournament was the main event, with proceeds from the sale of $20 participation tickets benefiting Empowering Cuts.
Now that Santiago is dwelling and has resumed giving cuts in Kensington, he takes particular pride not only in the number of cuts he's given, but in the fact that his children seem to have inherited his empathetic spirit: These days, when they find people experiencing homelessness on the street, they don't look abroad—they nudge their male parent to assist them.
The Citizen is one of more than xx news organizations producing Broke in Philly, a collaborative reporting projection on solutions to poverty and the city's push towards economical mobility. Follow the project on Twitter @BrokeInPhilly .
Header prototype courtesy Solmaira Valerio 
Source: https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/empowering-cuts-joshua-santiago/