Empowering Cuts: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:03, 8 September 2021

Humanizing the Homeless

While most of his friends are off watching Paw Patrol, 5-year-old Jaivian would much rather watch videos about how to give a sharp haircut. That's because Jaivian’s dad is Joshua Santiago, a North Philly native who, since 2015, has been giving free haircuts to people experiencing homelessness through his nonprofit, Empowering Cuts.

Santiago began taking trips to Kensington in 2017, equipped with extension cords that he would attach to his car in order to plug in his clippers; he started approaching people on the street, offering to cut their hair. The response? Overwhelmingly positive.

In between working paid jobs like driving for rideshare companies, he estimates that he’s given around 8,000 cuts. No matter where he goes to provide haircuts, “it’s [always] hugs, tears and a million thank yous,” Santiago says. He believes that the confidence someone derives from a haircut is noticeable, especially when they haven’t had one for a long time; but the deeper impact, he says, comes from another person taking the time to interact and care for them.

Note: The above descriptive information came from the Philadelphia Citizen article below.

In The News

Citizen of the Week: Joshua Santiago, Philadelphia Citizen, July 19, 2021.

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 {{toplink|url=http://www.facebook.com/Empoweringcuts/|name=facebook.com/Empoweringcuts}}<blockquote>''Humanizing the Homeless''</blockquote>
-While most of his friends are off watching Paw Patrol, 5-year-old Jaivian would much rather watch videos about how to give a sharp haircut.
+While most of his friends are off watching Paw Patrol, 5-year-old Jaivian would much rather watch videos about how to give a sharp haircut. That's because Jaivian’s dad is Joshua Santiago, a North Philly native who, since 2015, has been giving '''free haircuts to people experiencing homelessness''' through his nonprofit, '''Empowering Cuts'''.
-That’s because Jaivian’s dad is Joshua Santiago, a North Philly native who, since 2015, has been giving free haircuts to people experiencing homelessness through his nonprofit, Empowering Cuts.
 Santiago began taking trips to Kensington in 2017, equipped with extension cords that he would attach to his car in order to plug in his clippers; he started approaching people on the street, offering to cut their hair. The response? Overwhelmingly positive.
-In between working paid jobs like driving for rideshare companies, he estimates that he’s given around 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 first-ever grant.
+In between working paid jobs like driving for rideshare companies, he estimates that he’s given around 8,000 cuts. No matter where he goes to provide haircuts, “it’s [always] hugs, tears and a million thank yous,” Santiago says. He believes that the confidence someone derives from a haircut is noticeable, especially when they haven’t had one for a long time; but the deeper impact, he says, comes from another person taking the time to interact and care for them.
-No matter where he goes to provide haircuts, “it’s [always] hugs, tears and a million thank yous,” Santiago says. He believes that the confidence someone derives from a haircut is noticeable, especially when they haven’t had one for a long time; but the deeper impact, he says, comes from another person taking the time 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 money for it," Santiago says.
 ''Note:''&nbsp;&nbsp;The above descriptive information came from the Philadelphia Citizen article below.