Real Life

Melbourne barber giving haircuts to homeless

A barber is changing the lives of Melbourne’s homeless population, one haircut at a time.

A barber is changing the lives of Melbourne’s homeless population, one haircut at a time.

Nasir Sobhani, 26, works full time at a hair salon in the city’s north-west but spends his one day off each week restyling the men and women who call the neighbourhood’s streets home.

A former drug addict, Nasir knows how hard living rough can be, so started the Clean Cut, Clean Start project, which aims to help people see they are worthy of a second chance.

“A homeless person doesn’t get the respect and attention needed,” Nasir told the Daily Mail.

“So letting them know that they are worthy of human interaction is actually the main purpose here.”

This Mark. He is 28 years old. He suffers from a mental illness and hasn’t seen his family for a decade.

This is Rachel, a 28-year-old mum-of-one. She has been on the streets since she was 13 and using heroin since she was 15.

This man wouldn’t share his name or story, but was very happy with his hair cut.

This is Chris. He is 21 years old and has been living on the street since he was 10.

This is Vic. He is dealing with mental health issues, thought to be brought on by drug abuse.

This is Ganesh. He started taking heroin after his girlfriend left him, taking their daughter. He is now the fulltime carer of his brother and trying hard to get clean.

The is Carla, a 34-year-old mother of three children who have been removed from her custody. She used drugs to numb the pain of having her children taken away.

This is Daniel. He left home at 14. He is dealing with an addiction to ice.

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