116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Cedar Rapids hairdresser provides new looks, listening ears to those in need
How she changes their outlook — inside and out
Jul. 5, 2023 5:00 am, Updated: Jul. 5, 2023 7:12 am
CEDAR RAPIDS — For most, a haircut is a simple matter of routine — something that becomes part of personal maintenance. But what if you can’t afford one?
For one Cedar Rapids hairdresser and salon owner, the folks often out of sight are now top of mind.
“For us, it’s a cosmetic change. For them, it’s a blessing,” said Beautifully Centric owner Michele Foster, 47. “It’s someone who cares for them, who actually puts forth that initiative to say, ‘let me help you out in any way.’ ”
In April, Foster started providing free haircuts to homeless people and those in need at meal distribution centers and community gatherings. Two or three times each month, she's made a habit of it, bringing in her barber cousin to help, too.
“Everybody needs help. Everybody’s one bill away from poverty,” said Foster. “Sometimes, people look at homeless people as if they’re beneath us. They’re not bad people — we need to stop looking at them like that.”
With a background in catering, Foster started cutting hair after she moved to Iowa seven years ago. She opened her salon at 3900 Fountain Blvd. NE when she moved to Cedar Rapids two years ago.
“You have a lot of people that look at them and make them feel like dirt, or less than nothing. That could be me or you one day. Instead of knocking them down, we need to build them up.”
A native of the St. Louis suburbs of Ferguson and Hazelwood, Mo., she came to Iowa to make a better life for her children. But with a sense of humility ingrained by her upbringing, old habits followed her.
With a personable, magnetic nature, her passion for helping those in need developed when she would make conversation with others while waiting at bus stops. Her humility has stayed with her because she knows how easy it is to get knocked down in life.
“I’ve always been a helper. I can’t help you financially, but I can help you emotionally, mentally and spiritually,” she said.
She always had the idea to help others, but wasn’t sure how. Cooking for large groups was out of the question, the cooking school graduate said — food is getting too expensive.
But after being pointed to meal distributions for the homeless, Foster started small with cuts in downtown Cedar Rapids at dinner. Before long, she was cutting hair alongside the Salvation Army, at community centers and at community events around the city. Terrance Fice, a cousin she discovered she had while they worked at Great Clips a few years ago, came on to help cut hair and cut down long lines.
As a kid, Fice knew what it felt like being unable to afford a haircut. He got his start as a barber then, through trial and error at home with a pair of clippers.
“I’ve seen people who can’t afford what the prices are,” Fice said. “When you’re looking for a job, you need the extra confidence.”
Together, they’ve seen the underbelly of poverty in a diversity of forms — from terminally ill homeless people to unemployed engineers who need to look presentable for their upcoming interviews.
Laughing and crying with those who may have no one else to listen to, Foster has a joy about her that helps others change their outlook on themselves — both in the mirror and in a world where they don’t see themselves reflected. Together with Fice, marginalized communities are treated with a dignity they’re not often afforded elsewhere.
“You have a lot of people that look at (homeless people) and make them feel like dirt, or less than nothing. But I look at everybody the same,” she said. “That could be me or you one day. Instead of knocking them down, we need to build them up.”
But what’s more is that in radiating an empathy beyond the scope of her job description, the hairdresser has fostered a sense of community that can be imparted to the next person sitting in the chair. Foster, described by her clients as a keen listener, offers clients advice sourced from problems in her own life and examples from other clients.
By cutting hair at community-oriented events, Fice said the accessible haircuts have also served as a word-of-mouth hub for community resources where people don’t feel judged for seeking help.
“She can give great advice,” said Miranda Wright, a Cedar Rapids resident who has known Foster for 20 years. “She repeats to you what you said. She gives her life experience, which is easy to relate to.”
“She has a life about her,” said Laura Perkins, another client who drives from Missouri to keep her hair maintained with Foster. “She gives you eye contact.”
With a vision to go even further, she’s just getting started. Eventually, Foster hopes to do free haircuts full-time, fueled by donations, with dreams of a mobile salon bus she can drive to any city and reach any community in the state.
“Wherever we need to go, that’s where I want to go,” she said.
Comments: (319) 398-8340; elijah.decious@thegazette.com
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