Non-profit executive raising awareness for shelter workers through haircut campaign

Dustin Browne says he's particular about his hair. But he was recently talking with his buddy about what to do with his hair during the COVID-19 pandemic when he thought "screw it" and decided to shave his head.

That's when the idea was proposed to Browne: shave for a shelter, a campaign for people to shave their head or give themselves bad haircuts and then donate what money they'd usually spend on hair upkeep to a shelter instead.

"I usually get a haircut once a month," Browne said. "It was getting out of control. I was not having it."

His usual hairdresser had to take a rain check, which is when the idea for a shave first came up to make the best of a bad situation in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Browne said the money will go to front-line workers at five organizations in Regina that offer shelters. Browne is the executive director for the Street Culture Project, a Regina-based non-profit organization which includes a youth shelter.

His hair is the shortest it has ever been, about less than a quarter inch with a "decent enough" fade.

Staff wages are going up 10 to 15 per cent at Street Culture for the staff who work with the most vulnerable people in society, who are transient, Browne said. Thirty employees have been laid off from Street Culture.

The organization is among several in the city working with a limited supply of personal protective equipment but Browne said it will be "critical" to protect staff if there is a positive case of COVID-19 among clients.

Shelters in the city are working together to develop best practices in the case that there is a confirmed case, he said.

Browne said he realizes the money raised likely isn't going to break big numbers but he said the shelters could use the money raised during the pandemic.

"There's not a lot of awareness or talk of shelter frontline workers so that was another really big goal of this."