NORTH HOLLYWOOD : Hairstylists Give Homeless a Free Cut

As a homeless man, Richard Hon is used to standing in lines for a hot meal or a job interview. But until Wednesday, he had never queued up to lose something.

That’s when Silvia Venegas, owner of a Northridge hair salon, came to the Valley Shelter in North Hollywood to cut off the locks of dozens of homeless people like Hon. Venegas gives the free haircuts every six weeks so that the homeless can have a better shot at a job, or just feel better about themselves.

“It makes them feel good,” said Venegas, owner of the Over The Rainbow hair salon. “If they have to go look for a job, at least they look presentable.”

Many at the shelter agreed.

“I’ve been looking for a job every day,” said Hon, 34, a drywall worker who came to the shelter a few weeks ago. “An employer looks at how well groomed you are. That’s the main thing nowadays.”

Others said that they did not have the $25 per adult and $15 per child that the haircuts would normally cost.

“The money you save here you spend on gas and food,” said Roberto Razo, 23, who has taken his 2-year-old son, Emmanuel, and wife, Martha Aguilar, 21, to get a free cut twice in the past two months.

The shelter on Lankershim Boulevard provides 80 apartments for emergency housing. Individuals who are waiting for welfare checks may stay at the shelter for up to a month and families can remain for as many as 90 days.

It is this need for help that drew Venegas to the shelter. She began providing the free haircuts last summer when her sister, who works at the shelter, told Venegas it would be a worthwhile place to do some volunteer work.

Venegas has been providing the haircuts at the shelter during one of her days off ever since.

From the moment Venegas and her assistant, Liza Jens, arrive at the shelter, the two hairstylists work non-stop to trim, cut, shave and style everything from ponytails to beards. On Wednesday, more than 40 men, women and children zipped in and out of their makeshift barber chairs in only four hours.

Most of Venegas’ clients at the shelter are grateful.

And they know that the longer they wait to get in line, the less picky they can be about their haircut.

“By the time I’m doing my last one, I can’t see straight,” Jens said.