ROCKINGHAM — Three tenants of Place of Grace got a free trim Monday afternoon, courtesy of Jenny Moree.
This is the second time that the Rockingham native has driven from her Moore County salon to help give the homeless a fresh look and the first time at the new location: the former Rohanen school property where her father was enrolled “back in the day.”
“It’s just something I’ve always wanted to do,” she said. “I just hate it when people judge (others) because of how they look.”
Moree said that, while growing up, she wasn’t the kind to always wear name-brand clothes and was “only halfway cool because I could play sports,” so she gravitated toward the underdogs because she knew how they felt.
“I just remember in school, little boys would get picked on if their hair was long … it’s just sad to see that. And you know that if they had a haircut, like a cool haircut like everybody else, that it would be totally different.
“Little girls can get away with it; they can pull their hair back in a ponytail and look pretty and classy. With little boys, they say ‘Oh, he just looks thrown away,’” she continued. “Or men going to get a job, if they can’t afford a haircut and a shave, then they’re frowned upon like, ‘We can’t have you in here like that.’
“Not everybody can afford that, so if I can help somebody like those guys feel a little bit better about themselves and feel clean-cut like they could go out and get a job, I want to do it.”
Moree said she had heard about homeless camps behind the Walmart in Southern Pines and near the tracks outside Rockingham and wanted to go, but every time she mentioned it people would tell her, “You’re crazy to do that … You could get hurt, you’re a girl.”
Several people had volunteered to go with her, but never followed up, she said.
“So, I said, ‘I’ve got to do this on my own,’” Moree recalled.
It was then that she messaged Pastor Gary Richardson of Place of Grace.
“We’re just excited people are coming out to partner with us to help these guys in any way they can to get back on their feet,” Richardson said.
He added that he hopes the haircuts will “give them a little more confidence and self-respect” and make them “more presentable in the marketplace,” thus leading to employment opportunities.
While she admits she gets tired of standing on her feet all day, Moree, who has been cutting hair for 20 years, said her favorite part of the job is hearing others’ stories.
“You learn a lot about people, a whole lot about people,” she said. “Things that you think are perfect on the outside …. They sit in your chair, fall apart and you help put ‘em back together with just a haircut.”
With classic rock tunes playing on her phone, she tried to get each man to open up a little about his life.
The first man, who didn’t want to be photographed, was a 37-year-old with hair down past his shoulders who was “just passin’ through.”
Moree, who plays guitar and occasionally joins her brother Frankie — front man of local country band Dark Horse — on stage, asked if he was a musician. He wasn’t, but her third client of the day, Matthew “Sully” Sullivan, said that he was “just a drummer.”
Originally from New York, Sullivan said he once worked in the banking industry and later moved to Memphis where he was involved in the music field.
He’s been in this area (where he helped take care of his parents) for 10-plus years. On the day his mother died, Sullivan had a heart attack. After that, he looked after his father, who is now in a nursing home.
Sullivan said their house was sold out from under him, leaving him with nowhere to go. His brother, who was unable to take him in, suggested Place of Grace.
“It’s better than the street,” he said, adding that he has been able to receive help with medical care and was recently approved for Medicaid.
Her second client, Bo Martin, joked about his past run-ins with the law and said his bank account was wiped out the last time he was in jail, which he said was all based on a lie.
Martin had been “… staying with a buddy and (he) had to move out, so he brought me over here” about two weeks ago.
“They probably don’t get a lot of chances to share that,” Moree said of the stories before breaking down in tears.
“It’s just sad,” she continued, wiping her eyes, thinking about the different circumstances that can leave someone homeless. “I’m thankful to my parents for raising me to care about myself … I could have been one of them … easy … real easy. But I didn’t because my family cared about me and wanted me to choose the right path … and thank God I did.
“The last time I left here I was bawling — like I am now — because it’s just such a reality check.”
Moree said she would like to contribute more but getting the word out and getting others to help her connect with the homeless is difficult.
“If you look around and hear people talking, there’s more homeless people than what we see … It’s not in our face,” she said. “I’ll even go to wherever (they are) … I’ll have cordless equipment, I can do it” — as long as she has someone to go with her.
She said other stylists have offered to volunteer with her — “It’s just getting it set up; it’s just putting it in motion and letting people know I’m serious about this.”
For Moree, this isn’t just a one-time gig.
“I seriously feel there’s something in my gut that says, ‘Just do this, just do it,’” she said. “It’s like anybody else, if you’ve got a talent you should share it. Whether you get paid for it or not, you get paid (emotionally) … I’d rather be rich that way. Money can be taken away at any time … but to see those guys smiling” is payment enough.
