As a graduate of cosmetology school, Christian Care Center of Texarkana activities director Carlisa Brown understands the impact a good haircut can have on a person’s self-esteem and confidence. After a former classmate, Benjamin House, opened up a barber school with his brother, Charles, near the community, she saw an opportunity to connect her residents with some talented students.
“We graduated from cosmetology school together in 2015,” Brown said. “Then after that, he told me that his brother relocated to Texarkana and was thinking about opening up a barber college. So that’s how that conversation first started off.”
Today, the House brothers run Tonsorial Arts Barber College in Texarkana. The school’s students visit the Christian Care Center dining area to provide residents with free haircuts on the first Monday of every month. Brown says the residents look forward to it every month with some becoming the first “regulars” of a student’s career. This not only gives students a chance to hone their skills but also express their creativity on a canvas of hair.
“One of our lady residents had a specific lady that would do her hair,” said Brown. “Every time she did her hair, it was beautiful. She wanted nobody else to do her hair but this one student.”
Like any good barbershop, there is no shortage of chatter when the clippers come out. Brown enjoys seeing the intergenerational banter flow between the residents and students.
“They actually get to know them personally because they have so much conversation,” said Brown. “We have comedians who are residents and we have comedians who are barbers and cosmetologists. They seem to gel well. They are very respectful when they’re coming into the facility and interacting with residents.”
Brown believes that similar initiatives can be replicated at nursing homes across the nation — it is just a matter of networking with local barber colleges. The haircuts might be free but the impact is priceless.
“I have to remind them, these are students on the way to being professionals,” said Brown. “So it’s just a work in progress but it gives those who don’t have money a time and a day to just feel beautiful, glamorous and spiffy. They’re excited when [the students] come, they go to feel brand new. It’s just such a blessing to have them come in.”
