How One Woman’s Small Act of Kindness Reminds Us That Every Person Deserves to Be Seen
Looking around her community, Kelly Sweck noticed a concerning phenomenon. The unhoused people in her neighborhood were being completely ignored and overlooked by the general public.
“People don’t even look at them; people walk by and pretend like it’s not even happening,” she remarked.
It’s a common reaction, and one that gave this organization its name. Too many people are willing to treat their homeless neighbors as invisible people, or eyesores that are beneath notice, denying them even the simple dignity of eye contact and an acknowledgement that there is a human being nearby.
But once Sweck had noticed this going on, she refused to ignore it. She decided to do something to counteract it—something that put the unhoused person at the center of attention for once, in a positive way. At her salon in Rutland, Vermont, she offers free haircuts for guests, and a place to be seen.
The Looking Glass Salon
Sweck is the owner of The Looking Glass Salon in Rutland, which is located within a building that also includes more than 20 affordable housing units where low-income or formerly homeless individuals can stay. Rutland Neighbors, a local nonprofit organization, helps to provide transportation to the salon for people who are located farther away.
Salons have long been not just a place to get a haircut, shampoo, or beard trim, but also a place to socialize. Barbershops and salons have been hallmark social gathering spaces for many cultures and subcultures both past and present, and their social value, though often overlooked, is nevertheless important.
It’s no different for the homeless clients of The Looking Glass Salon. Guests can enjoy the pampering experience of getting a new look, as well as a listening ear, a conversation, or just a person who’s willing to not look away.
For some people, this could be the only pleasant conversation they have in a day, the only time they’ve been touched in weeks, or the only time a stranger has acknowledged them as a fellow human being and broken through that illusion of being an invisible, forgotten person in who knows how long. Needless to say, that can be a very valuable experience for many people who have been starved of connection as a result of their homelessness and subsequent low status in society.
Do What You Can with What You Have, Where You Are
It would have been easy for Sweck to give up before she had even started. She could have very easily noticed the problem and just decided to ignore it. She could have looked at the enormity of the problem, decided she was just one person and too small to make any big difference, and thrown up her hands in defeat before she ever tried to make a difference. A lot of people do.
But instead, she decided to do what she could with what she had, where she was. She recognized that even a small change can make a big difference in the life of one person, and she knew that it was worth it to try, even if you may fail.
This is a great attitude to have when trying to tackle problems that seem insurmountable. While it might not seem like any one individual can do much, small actions can still be powerful on a one-on-one basis.
While a haircut may not change everything for all homeless people, it could change everything for one homeless person who was able to get a job as the result of that haircut or just get a much-needed break from the constant dehumanization of being homeless.
What Can You Do?
Kelly Sweck saw a problem and found a way to use the skills and resources she had in order to assuage it as much as she could.
On the surface, it might not seem like hairdressing would be a necessary skill in the fight against homelessness, and yet it is making a big difference. What skills and resources do you have access to that you could use creatively to benefit the unhoused people in your community?
You don’t have to be a hairdresser, although if you are, The Looking Glass Salon is currently seeking experienced barbers and stylists who are willing to donate a few hours of their time to accommodate their growing guest list!
If you’re drawing a blank on ideas, try connecting with organizations in your area who are already doing good work. Maybe they need someone to design fliers or knit gloves. It’s also always good to go directly to the source and ask homeless people what they need and how you can help. If you have a little extra cash to give out, that always helps, but there may be specific needs within your community that you have just the skills to fill. Maybe someone could really use a massage therapist or a nail tech or someone who’s really good at navigating bureaucracy to help them fill out a few forms. You’ll never know until you ask.
National Problems and Local Solutions
Homelessness has become a huge problem in our country, and unfortunately, it’s one that seems to only be growing bigger. As much political energy as there is going into making everything worse, there are even more regular people who wish they could do something to make things better.
That wish can often be crushed under the sheer scale of the problem, but to avoid getting immediately overwhelmed with a feeling of powerlessness, start small, look local, plug in to larger systems whenever you can, and keep in mind these words from poet Diane di Prima’s Revolutionary Letter #8:
“NO ONE WAY WORKS, it will take all of us – shoving at the thing from all sides – to bring it down”
