Christy Traner, founder of Street Light Ministry, cuts 59-year-old Nicolas Caraballo’s hair.
On a recent Thursday evening on the corner of West Broad and North Adams streets, 59-year-old Nicolas Caraballo sits outside in a chair as Christy Traner cuts his hair.
“People actually care,” says Caraballo, who is homeless. “I’m going through very hard times. This is love. I really appreciate it.”
Though the weather is cold, and winter dark envelops the city, the light of caring hearts shines on Broad Street as volunteers with the new Street Light Ministry provide free haircuts to the homeless.
“We aren’t meant to just sit in a building on Sundays; we are called to go out and bring the unconditional love of Jesus to as many people as we can,” says Traner, a professional hair stylist who says she received a vision from God of a stylist’s chair with a mirror leaning up against a lamp post. She put that calling into action with this new haircut ministry.
On this evening, Traner and three volunteers give about 20 haircuts. Stylist Lacey Hooper, the owner of Grace Salon at 101 W. Broad St., says a fresh haircut can do more than just change someone’s appearance. “They sit down kind of heavy, you know, the burdens of living on the streets,” she says. “Everything they’re dealing with weighs heavy on them, but you can almost kind of see them lifting up as you’re giving them a haircut. They’re feeling a bit more fresh and more like themselves. You see them start to smile a little bit when they might not be smiling before, and when they stand up, they seem a little taller when they get out of the chair.”
Bakuba Watoto is pleased with the haircut Hooper gave him. “It makes me feel good,” he says, grinning. “It makes me look better.”
Surrounding Traner and Hooper are Traner’s three children and husband. “God bless you,” says one of her children cheerfully while handing out a cozy new blanket. The mood on Broad Street is festive and uplifting. “It’s God’s space,” says Lou Stevens, owner of Lou Stevens Glamsquad. She is also part of the musical duo Lou and Henley, who are here providing music. Stevens sings while Menchion Henley plays guitar, the duo performing Alison Krauss’s “I’ll Fly Away,” the bluegrass classic “Rolling in My Sweet Baby’s Arms” and other tunes.
Lacey Hooper of Grace Salon trims Derrick Ward’s beard.
The haircut ministry partnered with volunteers from The Chapel-RVA, who have been feeding the homeless in the same location for about a year, offering free hot meals along with a smile and kind words. “We have a mission in our hearts to feed anyone in the community who is hungry,” says Nate Lobdell, outreach director. “We just come on the streets and love them.”
After cutting the hair of one homeless man, Traner shares her experience. “I began cutting his hair the way he asked, taking care to be gentle, and with every glide of my clippers, showing love to this man,” she says. “I asked how his day was going and if there was anything I could pray for him for. He said his health had been an issue and [he] would like prayers for that. Once I got around to trimming his beard, I heard God speak to me very loudly: ‘Tell him he is loved.’ I told him what God had told me to say, and he replied with, ‘I need to hear that more than you know.’ In that moment, I knew that God had sent this man to me to get the message of love to him. We prayed together, and I thanked him for spending time with me.”
Although brand new, Street Light ministry already has plans to expand. “I’m hoping to get a bigger team of volunteer makeup artists to help [those in need] prepare for jobs,” Traner says. “I’m going to have interview training — teach them how to interview and give them interview tips. We’re going to reach out to temp agencies. We’re going to teach women how to apply makeup and show men how to style their hair. Beyond the haircut, I want to help them establish a good job.”
Traner also says as the ministry grows, she plans to travel to other locations throughout the city to serve the homeless “to get as close as we can to where they’re staying, so they don’t have to come to us.”
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