Winter is approaching and, with it, all the difficult weather conditions that often apply. Because of that, one kindhearted Philadelphia man thought that he would have to temporarily give up his mission of giving free haircuts to the homeless—that is, until one equally kindhearted stranger stepped in and gave him a relatively new barbershop. For free.
According to WTXF-TV, Sean Johnson heard about Brennon Jones’ widely publicized haircut mission and decided he wanted to be a part of the “Haircuts 4 the Homeless” operation.
“When I found out, well, I need to be part of that. I need to see what I can do to help,” Johnson told the news station.
His way of helping? Giving Jones a fully renovated, basically new barbershop that will offer services to those in need.
Jones did not have to pay a cent for it.
“He said, ‘Listen, I’ve got a building I want you to come check out.’ He said, ‘Do you like this place?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I like it.’ He tossed me the key and said, ‘It’s yours,’” Jones said, still amazed at Johnson’s generosity.
But Johnson says he knows what it is like having to start over from scratch, having been formerly incarcerated.
“When I was in there, I went to school, learned how to cut hair; my mother paid for my license, and I’m not gonna let my mom down,” he explained.
Johnson became the successful owner of Taper’s Barbershop and had plans to expand his business to another shop he had bought and renovated. But after hearing about Jones’ story, he changed his business plans.
“It wasn’t about me giving a barbershop. When you look at the homeless and the things that they need, I looked at it as more. I built something and I want to see it keep going, and I want to see it do a great thing,” Johnson said.
The new shop will be up and running in November and will feature set days to exclusively serve the homeless.
And Jones, who was previously so worried about his mission, says that he is reminded of his faith and why he does what he does.
“I just continue to rely on my faith. God brought me this far; I know he’s not gonna leave me now,” Brennon said.
Read more at WTXF-TV.