Do-gooder in a hairy
Stylist boosts homeless with free cuts, shaves
He’s combating homelessness one head at a time.
A London-based hairdresser who travels the world giving haircuts to the indigent was in Tompkins Square Park this past week.
Joshua Coombes arrived Tuesday with a backpack full of scissors, electric razors, combs, hair products and a black cape and collar.
He spotted a group of men resting on benches and struck up a conversation with an older chap named Morris. “I just sat down next to him and said, ‘ Hey what’s up?’ ” said Coombes, 30. “Then I told him how I’m doing haircuts for free, and he wanted one right away.”
As Coombes shaved Morris’ balding head, other homeless people started lining up for trims and shaves.
A man named Ron, who grew up in Harlem and spent 10 years in prison, was Coombes’ most talkative “client.”
“When he got out in 2012, he didn’t have any support and ended up on the streets,” Coombes recalled of their conversation. “But we were joking about how now I was going to make him look like Mr. Clean.” Coombes chiseled Ron’s outgrown curls into a trendy skin fade, which keeps the sides short and the top long.
Ron was ecstatic with the final result. “It put a big smile on his face,” said Coombes. “That’s what happens with a haircut. It’s an instant feel-good factor.”
The hairdresser — who would normally charge $65 for a standard haircut in his salon — says his stylings spread confidence.
“It really helps with people’s self-esteem,” said Coombes. “It helps people think, ‘Maybe I can go for that job,’ or, ‘Maybe I can go visit my family now.’ Sometimes they look in the mirror and see someone they haven’t recognized in years.
“It’s about creating good memories for someone and making them feel uplifted,” he said.
Two years ago, Coombes was working in a London salon when he began questioning how he could give back to the community.
“That’s when it hit me, this is something simple I can do for others,” he said.
Coombes quit his job and hasn’t looked back since.
He has traveled to four continents and cities such as Paris, Berlin, Dublin, Madrid and Sydney. He’s hit New York City four times. The globe-trotting stylist relies on sponsors who pay for his travel.
Coombes hopes his movement will ignite others to commit small acts of kindness too by spreading the word with the hashtag #dosomethingfornothing.