{"id":25590,"date":"2019-04-12T13:50:08","date_gmt":"2019-04-12T17:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=25590"},"modified":"2019-04-12T13:45:13","modified_gmt":"2019-04-12T17:45:13","slug":"a-hand-for-homeless-heads-utc-freshman-develops-outreach-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2019\/04\/a-hand-for-homeless-heads-utc-freshman-develops-outreach-program\/","title":{"rendered":"A Hand for Homeless Heads: UTC freshman develops outreach program"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Hairstylists from Bridge Salon on the North Shore cut hair for homeless men at the Chattanooga Community Kitchen.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

A freshman in biology, Felix Gould didn’t have much money growing up, so he knows how important something as small as a haircut can be to a person.<\/p><\/div>\n

Corey sits in the chair, a barber\u2019s apron draped across him. Behind him, hairstylist Chelsea, volunteering her time, stands with electric clippers in hand.<\/p>\n

Corey\u2019s hair is a thick mass that rises up some three inches from his head, but he doesn\u2019t want her to touch that. The homeless man just wants his beard trimmed nice and neat. \u201cI can\u2019t keep the females off me,\u201d he says with a smile.<\/p>\n

His\u00a0friend Tony Talley\u00a0walks up while Corey is in the chair.\u00a0\u201cGive him a Mohawk or something,\u201d Talley says. \u201cMake him look pretty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether\u00a0Corey\u2014who doesn\u2019t want his last named used\u2014is pretty\u00a0and irresistible\u00a0is a personal call, but for\u00a0him,\u00a0it\u2019s all good\u00a0because the trim was free.\u00a0\u201cI got\u00a0to save my money that I was going to spend to get it, so it helped me out a lot,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Money is a big issue for Corey, like it is for\u00a0most of the people hanging out in the Chattanooga Community Kitchen.\u00a0But Felix Gould,\u00a0a freshman in biology at UTC, knows about money issues and has created a program to help\u00a0the homeless.<\/p>\n

On the first Friday of each month, hairstylists go to the Community Kitchen on 11th\u00a0Street\u00a0in Chattanooga\u00a0to\u00a0cut hair for free.\u00a0A couple of weeks ago, three hairstylists from Bridge\u00a0Salon\u00a0on\u00a0the city\u2019s\u00a0North Shore were cutting hair and trimming beards and mustaches.\u00a0Gould\u2019s efforts launched the program.\u00a0\u201cI came from a poor family in Connecticut, and regular haircuts were never really in my life,\u201d\u00a0Gould\u00a0says. \u201cI realize how much of a toll not having a simple thing such as a haircut can have on a person.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the Kitchen, some of the men\u00a0talk and\u00a0joke and laugh while their haircut is taking place; others sit stonily quiet, eyes down.\u00a0Before coming to Chattanooga, Bridge\u00a0Salon\u00a0owner Teresa Wesson cut hair at the homeless shelter in Knoxville and understands the power of\u00a0the simple act.\u00a0\u201cI saw what an impact it had on desperation,\u201d she says. \u201cIt changes their whole demeanor, at least temporarily. I\u2019ve noticed it gives them incentive to try and go interview for a job because they\u2019re more presentable; they don\u2019t look beat down, disheveled and ashamed.\u201d<\/p>\n

A job interview is why Paul got his hair cut, which had gone about four months without\u00a0a trim.\u00a0\u201cIt\u00a0 was pretty scraggly,\u201d he\u00a0admits. \u201cGetting it cut definitely makes you feel a lot better about yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gould came up with the idea while talking to Wesson while getting a haircut at Bridge Salon. \u201cWalking out of there that day, I didn\u2019t think much of what I said, but then I got home and looked in the mirror at my haircut, and I loved what she was able to do,\u201d Gould says. \u201cSo I called Teresa and asked\u00a0if she would join me in this pursuit and she said \u2018Yes.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Wesson says she participates for a couple of reasons. One is a kind of payback for\u00a0her \u201crewarding\u201d career. The other is the reaction of the homeless men.\u00a0\u201cThe\u00a0smiles that it brings and the way I see a lot of these people light up when they look in a mirror,\u201d Wesson says. \u201cIt\u2019s just very humbling. That\u2019s probably the biggest thing it does for me. It humbles me, makes me very appreciative and grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

In October,\u00a0Wesson\u00a0was the only hairstylist\u00a0available\u00a0one Friday,\u00a0and she\u00a0was able to give about seven haircuts, Gould says, but he knew immediately that his efforts to organize the program were worthwhile.\u00a0\u201cI knew it would be needed, but afterwards every single person who got their hair cut came up to me and thanked me and shook my hand.\u201d\u00a0Even with three hairstylists\u00a0participating\u00a0in November,\u00a0only men have\u00a0come to\u00a0get haircuts, but the ultimate goal is to add women and children, he says.<\/p>\n

The first couple of times were \u201ca little bit sad because a lot of people just got buzz\u00a0cuts,\u00a0and I think they did that\u00a0thinking\u00a0the program was\u00a0not\u00a0going to keep going,\u201d Gould says. \u201cI hope that, as the months proceed, they realize that this is going to\u00a0continue\u00a0and you can do what you want, not what you have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n