The Hairdresser Who Gives Free Haircuts to the Homeless

Good Doer Profile: Mark Bustos is a superstar hairdresser. On weekdays he’s a stylist to the rich and famous. Come Sunday, he hits the streets of New York.

New York hairdresser Mark Bustos has a celebrity clientele, and he charges a fair dime for his styling services. But not on Sundays. On Sundays, Bustos hits the streets and offers his services to homeless people for free. Well-known by the people on the street, he works on a word-of-mouth basis, visiting areas like Union Square, the Lower East Side and Midtown as needed. While each person and each haircut is different, Bustos’ opening line – “I want to do something nice for you today” – always stays the same.

Bustos publishes photos of his street sessions on his highly-popular Instagram feed, with short bios on individual clients. In one recent post, he wrote: “Every single day I have countless emails from others that want to help “me” and ask how they can “team up” with me. YOU DONT NEED ME! The best way to help me is to help our brothers and sisters who are less fortunate than we are.”

On top of giving a pampering moment away from their challenging lives and a sense of dignity to homeless people, Bustos ultimately aims to inspire. He likes the idea that passersby will see what he’s doing, and think of an idea for how they can use their own skills to help people less fortunate than themselves. His hashtag #BeAwesometoSomebody really says it all.

Thank you, Goodnet.org!