Wow! What an honor! Somehow the New York Times found out about us and published a beautiful article on the front page of the Style section this week!! Here is some of it….
LAST spring, a prominent businesswoman in Lancaster, Pa., made a tearful phone call to her friend Darla Broderick, an owner of Visage á Visage, a local day spa and salon. The woman explained that her real estate and restaurant businesses had been slammed by the economic downturn, and she could no longer afford to keep her hair appointment.
“She was crying and embarrassed,” said Tina Stoltzfus, Ms. Broderick’s daughter and a co-owner with her parents. “Of course, it broke our hearts, so we asked ourselves what we could do.”
The Brodericks decided to start offering free haircuts to those who had lost jobs or were otherwise struggling because of the recession, even providing limousine service to anyone who didn’t have transportation to the salon.
After some local news media attention, not only were they flooded with phone calls from the recently laid off, but they also heard from owners of other nearby businesses — including two restaurants, a dog-grooming service and a comedy club — who subsequently started similar free programs for the unemployed. “It really blew up,” said Ms. Stoltzfus, 41.
With the national unemployment rate close to 10 percent, the swelling ranks of the jobless have generated an unexpected wave of benevolence: businesses are offering freebies to laid-off workers everywhere — and not just necessities like groceries and flu shots. Instead, they’re providing free monthly gym memberships, yoga lessons, golf rounds, therapy sessions and salon visits.
This generosity reflects a changing attitude toward the unemployed, said John Challenger, chief executive of the out-placement agency Challenger, Gray and Christmas.
“There’s more empathy out there because everyone has friends and family who are caught up in this,” Mr. Challenger said. “There isn’t the stigma that there used to be, because there’s so much no-fault job loss.”
While the offers sometimes generate skepticism among the unemployed, many report being pleasantly surprised by the quality of the services and the professionalism of the personnel.
Michael Dixon, a software engineer from Seattle who is out of work, was prepared to be disappointed when he attended a two-day event last week at Flint Men’s Grooming, a salon in Bellevue, Wash., that was offering free haircuts, suits and career counseling to the jobless. “I thought it might be an up-sell, where they get you in and then immediately put you in front of a salesperson,” said Mr. Dixon, 35.
So he was stunned when a staff member escorted him to a room full of high-quality gently used suits and provided him with a tailor, as well as a free shirt and tie, all of which he estimates would have cost him $1,000 otherwise.
Michelle Immel had a similar experience at Visage á Visage. Ms. Immel, a 41-year-old single mother, was initially reluctant to request a free cut and blow dry. Since losing her administrative job five months earlier, she’d had her share of humbling experiences, like frequenting the local food bank with her head down and her face shaded by a baseball cap. But at Visage á Visage, only the staff members knew she was a pro bono client, and Ms. Immel says they treated her as well as, if not better than, the salon’s paying customers, even offering to trim her 2-year-old daughter’s hair, too.
“They really took the time to make you feel good,” Ms. Immel said. “That helps because when you’re unemployed you can get to the point where you start looking down on yourself.”
Because the effects of this recession are so widespread, there is also a stronger sense of humility among the still-employed, as business owners see customers dwindle and employees brace for the next round of layoffs.
Gary Donlin, the owner of the Quail Hollow Golf and Country Club in Oakham, Mass., said gratitude for his own job inspired him to offer free weekday golfing to the unemployed. He had noticed that membership was down — both because of golfers who had lost jobs and those who feared they might — and he realized that his longtime customers shouldn’t be taken for granted.
“These were the people who had given us a job for 18 years,” said Mr. Donlin, 64. “If they didn’t have a job, then what kind of people would we be if we didn’t help them?”
At Visage á Visage, Ms. Stoltzfus hasn’t imposed any formal limits on the number of cuts she will give away — she said the current count is nearly 100 — but she does keep a list to ensure that first-timers have priority over return visitors. And since her salon does not ask for proof of unemployment, she has encountered the occasional scammer.
“That hurts,” she said. “But then the next minute you have someone who really needs it, so you decide it’s O.K.”
Fortunately, Ms. Stoltzfus said that the majority of customers are honorable, and some, like Ms. Immel, now have jobs and are returning as paying clients.
With the beautiful publication in the New York Times, it has brought in some new names of people in need, and some beautiful, heartfelt letters from some very kind souls. I will add them as we receive them and unless I hear back from them, will put only first names and areas underneath. Thank you all for the beautiful comments-hopefully they will touch others to contribute something no-matter how big or small to help others in need. Your encouraging words are truly priceless and appreciated, almost as much as the people who recieve help.
Thank you New York Times for bring ing it back to life,
Yours Truly, Tina, Darla, & Ray
