Empowering individuals—One free haircut at a time.

Meet Josh Santiago, the heart and hands behind Empowering Cuts, as shares his journey from Kensington native to nationwide traveler, improving the the lives of the homeless community with just a pair of shears.

Tell us a little about Empowering Cuts.

Empowering Cuts a non-profit organization based out of Philadelphia and we travel the country and provide free haircuts for the homeless. For me it’s not just about the free haircut. It’s about being able to build relationships with these individuals on a personal level.

Do you remember the first hair cut you ever gave?

*laughing* Yes I do. The first haircut I ever gave was to my grandma's boyfriend. It took me 2-3 hours to give him a bald head because I had no idea what I was doing. Now it only takes me about 5 minutes, but I’ll never forget how long it took back then.

How did you first get into cutting hair?

Barbering is something I always knew I wanted to do. My dad would always would give my brother and me haircuts because we couldn’t afford to go to the barber shop. He would jack us up bad, and we would get made fun of in school and at some point my brother got tired of him giving us these messed up haircuts that he decided to try to do it himself. He gave me my first haircut and at that point he started cutting my hair. And he was my role model so that’s when I said “I really wanna be a barber.”

You grew up in North Philly and Kensington. Can you tell us a little about your childhood.

I have a very soft spot for Kensington. My grandma, my whole family is from there. When I was a kid, that’s where I used to run around and everything. But growing up was very tough for me.

My mom told me, when I was first born, we were homeless. We didn’t have anywhere to go— slept in an abandoned car for a couple of weeks, and everything. My birthday is December 21st, so mind you, it was cold outside. My my dad ended up winning custody from that, which sent my mom further down the bad path she was on.

As a kid, I didn’t have the best role models, so I got into a lot of trouble. I looked up to my brother and he was coming home with money and flashy stuff, and, as a kid, I wanted that too.

The first time I got in trouble by the police I was 13, and this stemmed from me always feeling like I had to fend for myself. My mom has never really been in my life. She’s been using for 30 years, she’s been homeless, she’s worked as a prostitute. We have a good relationship now, but growing up she was not around. This meant my dad is the person who raised me, but he was a functional addict. I dropped out of high school and was working full time, making only $100 a week.

Most of that went to supporting his habit.

When did you first realize you needed to break out of that situation?

It was about 6 or 7 years ago.

I realized if I really want to be a barber, I need a high school diploma. So I went back to school and got a diploma. Right after that, I got in trouble and had to sit down for 14 months. When I came home, I was ready. I had my high school diploma, came home in July, enrolled in barber school in August, and have been cutting hair ever since.

Barber school is what changed my life completely. It was my barber instructor and the individuals I surrounded myself with in barber school that got me on the right path.

How did you end up cutting hair for the homeless rather than pursuing a traditional career in that industry?

My barber instructor used to take us to shelters—that’s how we learned to cut hair. We didn’t have any experience, so we volunteered our services by providing free haircuts at the shelters while giving back at the same time.

It was amazing!

For me being able to provide a free haircut to somebody meant more to me than receiving money for it. I love being able to bless somebody that can’t afford it. At that point I couldn’t really see myself financially benefiting off of something I love doing.

How do you support yourself financially?

I drive for Uber! The most rewarding part of all the work that I do is creating connections with individuals.

Empowering Cuts is based in your old neighborhood of Kensington, you must have a lot of connections there at this point.

Every time I go to the Kensington area of Philadelphia and everybody knows me. I might go down there to drop off a bill or something and they be like “Josh you givin out free haircuts today?” We started off just providing free haircuts, and now it’s not just about that anymore. It’s about building relationships with these individuals.

These people are beautiful. All they want is to be seen—to be heard. I’m not just someone they see once or twice a year. I’m out there every week bringing clothes, food, providing hair cuts. I know them by name. I know their stories.

They are amazed when I greet them as I walk through the neighborhood because no one has called them by their name in so long. They just want to feel human. People are turning their lives around, not just from haircuts, but from genuine conversation. It’s beautiful.

What does a haircut mean to you?

A haircut is everything to me—it can change an entire attitude and self-confidence of a person.

My entire family has experienced homelessness, so this work has a special place in my heart. These individuals get free haircuts and the opportunities that present themselves are incredible. They’re getting jobs, enrolling themselves in recovery houses right after they get a haircut.

They’ve been down and out for so long, so if I can take a few hours out of my day to go to these areas and provide free hair cuts, I know in my heart we’re doing something great.

Do you think theres a misconception about homelessness in the city and across the country?

For sure. A lot of these individuals have great lives, and fall into homelessness because of unfortunate situations. I remember interviewing this guy who came into a lot of money and didn’t know what to do with it—he made some poor decisions and lost it all, and picked up a drug addiction because of the homelessness. He was confident he could get clean if he wanted to, but I remember him saying,

"If I get clean, I feel like I’m leaving these other homeless individuals behind—I consider them my family because I have no family.”

Sometimes when I offer to give someone a haircut, they’ll actually say no because they have to uphold this look. They’re panhandling to survive. If they’re sitting on the street with a fresh haircut, 9 times out of ten, non one is going to give them money. So sometimes they want a haircut, but they don’t want a hair cut because they know they’re not going to make money. It’s hard. This could literally happen to anyone.

What impact have you seen this work do on the community.

I get powerful messages from family members who haven’t seen their loved ones in 4-5 years, and the first time they see them is on my Instagram or Facebook page. The fact that we’re posting new haircuts lets some family members know their loved ones are alive and (somewhat) okay.

Have you ever seen or heard from one after you’ve cut their hair?

All the time. I cut this guy Tony’s hair about 4 years ago when he was living in a cardboard box on the corner of Kensington and West Moreland. A year later, we hosted a 24-hour fundraiser and Tony showed up. He looked great! He had gained a ton of weight, had a fresh cut and clothes…I almost didn’t recognize him. A few days ago, I ran into him again and he could not be more excited to tell me how well he is doing.

I got an apartment. I have this thing called Rent For Life where the city pays for my rent for the next few years while I find a job and get on my feet. You really helped me turn my life around.

So to meet Tony when he was living in a cardboard box and see him now with an apartment…wow.

What can we do?

Get to know these people for they really are--that’s what matters most. Even if you go to Little Caesars to get a box of pizza just to converse with these individuals, that's all they want is just somebody to talk to them. When I visit the Kensington section and say what’s up, they look at me like I'm crazy because I remember their name. Nobody has called them by their names in so long. Say hello. Get to know people.

—We all just want to feel human.—

hello. meet Josh.