A Redcliffe pair who stepped away from community housing and aged care careers to open a retro-styled mobile barber shop, are offering free haircuts to the homeless.
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Teresa Reed and Danielle Hannah hope to help their homeless clients feel good about themselves and maybe consider a fresh approach to life.
They have received a $73,000 grant from a Queensland government policy called Dignity First, to raise the hopes of the homeless in Queensland.
The first Dignity First grant has gone to the two rockabilly fans who have fashioned a retro-styled mobile barber shop, with a hotrods and motorbikes theme, and are inviting the homeless of Redcliffe to get their mutton chops styled to perfection.
Jack Reed's Barber Shop will provide 1000 free haircuts.
Sponsors are also helping out.
"For those first 1000, everybody who gets a haircut will get a toothbrush and comb," Ms Reed said.
Jack Reed is a fictional name, based on Teresa's 14-year-old son, Jack.
"We had a cunning plan where we thought we might open a barber shop," Ms Reed said.
"And we had thought pretty closely about opening a mobile trailer to do events like hotrod shows."
The pair saw the Dignity First grant, applied in September 2016 and received advice just before Christmas that they had won the grant.
Danielle is the barber and Teresa manages the presentation, while both manage the business.
"We wondered if they would pay us to give haircuts to the homeless and they did."
The rockabilly styling is all their own.
"We've always had a fascination for hotrods and old school classic motorbikes," she said.
"We had the chance to open the barbershop and it all just seemed to fit together."
The $73,000 grant is being used right now to build a fitted out "five-metre by two-metre" mobile barbershop, all air-conditioned and soon ready-to-go.
The mobile barber shop will take the advice of several community organisations on the peninsula – including The Breakfast Club – about where to place the barber shop.
"We expect over time the location will change and there will be a seasonal effect and we will change locations," Ms Reed said.
Ms Hannah said a good haircut was good for everybody.
"But for a person experiencing homelessness a haircut can mean the difference between social isolation and social inclusion," Ms Hannah said.
"Fresh hair and a shave can feel like a fresh start, which can be a big deal to someone who's going through a pretty rough time.
Find them in Redcliffe from March 2017 when their mobile barber shop is finished.
Find out more from here.
