Recovering drug addict gives homeless people free haircuts to‘give back’

[video 1]

Inspired by his personal struggles with drug addiction, Nasir Sobhani, a Melbourne, Australia-based barber, also know as the “Street Barber”, rolls around the city on his days off, giving out free haircuts to the homeless.

Before getting clean, Sabhoni said he would often spend $400 a day on cocaine. But now he says that cutting hair is his “new way of getting high.”

“It’s my new drug,” he says.

Cutting hair on the street is his new way of giving back – his way of repaying his gratitude for being sober and healthy.

“I remember the days when I used to hate myself and not be able to look into the mirror without crying because I would just be so disgusted at who I was,” he said.

“And I find that [is an ideas shared] by a lot of street [my] clients. They feel so ashamed of who they are.”

A lot of his clients, Sabhoni said, just need actual human contact from a person who cares about them.

While cutting their hair, he encourages an open line of communication by being honest about his past, and allowing them – if they’re comfortable – to open up about theirs.

Near the end of the 12 minute video, Sabhoni says “a haircut can do so much for someone. That’s why I named what I do ‘Clean Cut, Clean Start.’”

Since getting Sober he says he’s learned to take things “day by day.”