by Jade Small
What a difference a haircut makes
London based hairdresser Joshua Coombes, in his spare time, started making a difference to the lives of homeless people, one haircut at a time, for several years now. As hairdressers tend to do, he chatted with his clients and asked about their lives on the streets. He heard their stories, their feelings and reasons for being there.
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Homelessness is a huge problem globally and it’s not going away. It’s a rare occurrence for anyone to speak to these people, let alone make eye contact. Some cities have gone so far as to remove city and park benches and installed what I call “discomfort benches” and other nasty additions to sidewalks to prevent people sleeping or sitting there.
Although there is awareness of the problem, there’s not much compassion for those existing on the streets (one could hardly call it “living”). This prompted Joshua to start a movement to raise compassion, to show that homeless people are humans like the rest of us and none of them chose the circumstance they find themselves in.
Joshua, with the client’s permission, takes a before and after picture and asks if he can share their story on his “Do Something For Nothing” Instagram page.
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Here’s one man’s story:
This is Chris.
He was in a bad way when I first met him. A friend of his had passed away just a few weeks before… Sadly, his friend was one of 50 homeless people who died on streets in Greater Manchester last year.
Chris was in the army for years. He spoke a bit about that. “Things have changed a lot since then… I suffered with PTSD for a while afterwards. I didn’t know what to do with myself when that period of time ended. Well, anyway…here I am.”
Joshua now travels the world doing what he does so well, bringing a smile and hope to people who often feel invisible to those around them. His “Do Something For Nothing” movement has grown and evolved too.
Speaking about the movement, the 31-year-old told UNILAD:
“For me it’s not about whether someone’s deserving or undeserving. We’re all human, we all make mistakes.
It’s about trying to get rid of that thick layer of stigma that surrounds people who live on the streets in most cities and painting it literally in a new colour, which is not just statistics.”
The Do Something For Nothing (DSFN) movement is about compassion for our fellow human beings. How a small act of kindness can mean the world to someone who has nothing to look forward to.
Joshua’s clients are often completely transformed by their makeover and it shows in their eyes and their smiles. Right from the start of his journey of compassion Joshua realised how much he benefits too, that regardless of their new look, it’s the time spent chatting without prejudice, the human contact that makes the biggest difference.
INSTAGRAM POST PARIS
When Joshua started sharing these stories on Instagram and Facebook, people wanted to know more about the people he was meeting
He says: “The hashtag was DSFN because it’s not really about haircuts for homeless as such, it’s more about the time and conversation that I share with someone.
They’re the moments that are most important to all of us really, at the end of the day they’re what we share with one another.
Some people I go back and visit, and sometimes I just meet them that one time, but for me each of those is as important as the other, whether it ends with big smiles or just a nod of appreciation.”
Joshua went on to explain how the movement evolved, saying:
“The more I carried on doing it I saw other people join in, and it just kind of progressed. Now this is all I do, and each week it’s about finding new ways to tell those stories and get other people involved.
A lot of people are compassionate towards homelessness, but it’s all about how we can make the idea more accessible to everyone.”
Joshua and his artist friend Jamie decided to find additional ways to raise awareness with the stories of homeless people.
They traveled to Skid Row in Los Angeles, an area densely populated by the homeless. Joshua doing what he usually does with his scissors and trimmer while Jamie took photographs from which he later painted portraits.
Jamie’s art was displayed in a gallery in a show called Light and Noise
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Discussing the show, Joshua said:
“It was called Light and Noise because we believe we can all shine a light and make some noise. Even if we don’t know the solution I think it’s okay to be an amplifier.
We try to give isolated people more importance.”
And from there, the show went to London where Joshua with TOMS and they organised Light and Noise events in Manchester, Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin.
Join Stand For Dignity and find out more about Joshua Coombes’ work with Light + Noise to help people living on the streets tell their stories with dignity.
The post Hairdresser Transforms Thousands Of Homeless People With Free Makeovers appeared first on Educate Inspire Change.