Free haircuts and showers as the YMCA expands efforts to help city's homeless residents

FALL RIVER —The YMCA offered free haircuts to two dozen of the city’s homeless residents recently as the organization steps up its efforts to address the needs of those experiencing homelessness.

“I really just hope it boosts their self confidence,” said Morgan Silva, a program coordinator at the Fall River YMCA. “It’s such a simple thing, but it goes a long way.”

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Stephanie Mancini, executive director for the Fall River location, said they’ve expanded its programs well beyond the swimming lessons and group fitness classes that people might think about when they think about the Y.

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When the pandemic started, they decided to shift some of their focus to helping people facing homelessness and food insecurity. Within a few weeks of pandemic-related closures hitting Massachusetts in 2020, they began giving out food to those in need.

“We weren’t in the business of distributing food,” before the pandemic, she said.

Now, YMCA Southcoast, which includes the Fall River location, has a permanent partnership with the Greater Boston Food Bank to run a food distribution program called the Full Plate Project. The program gives out free food, including fresh produce and meat, to those in need, no membership to the Y required.

And, the Fall River Y expanded its free shower program when the pandemic started. Now, anyone experiencing homelessness can come use their showers for free on Monday and Thursday of each week. The Y provides towels and toiletries.

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Free haircuts

Silva said she came up with the idea of offering free haircuts while brainstorming ways they could expand on the free shower program. Ultimately, she wants to offer the free haircuts once a month.

“I know when I get a haircut I feel better, lighter,” she said.

She reached out to Sandra Carreiro, her hairstylist at Pazzazz Hair Salon on South Main Street, about volunteering to offer the haircuts for free.

On April 27, Carreiro and salon owner Donna Borges temporarily transformed one of the Y's fitness studios into a salon where they gave free haircuts to 22 people.

Angelina Magrath is staying at First Step Inn, a shelter in Fall River. While she tries to get into her own apartment, things like haircuts have fallen to the wayside.

“I haven’t got a haircut on over a year,” she said, adding that the last she had, a trim, she did herself.

On Thursday, she watched as Carreiro snipped her thick blonde hair into layers and bangs, and blow dried it to have a slight wave. She paused on her way out to check out her new style in the mirror.

“It always feels better to get a haircut,” she said. “I feel better.”

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: YMCA offers free haircuts for city's homeless residents