Mark Bustos is an upscale hair stylist at Three Square Studio and is a high school friend of mine. Back then, he practiced his skills by cutting our hair. Now he’s putting those skills to a different use. Earlier this year, Mark began doing something amazing on the streets of NYC. He’s traveling around almost every Sunday afternoon giving free haircuts to the homeless. Mark believes that by using his skills as a hairstylist he can inspire others to also do good. He says that even if you don’t have a skill to offer, you can always donate food, money, or even a smile. He essentially started a movement on Twitter with the hashtag #BeAwesomeToSomebody.
Here’s quick look at what Mark is doing:
His work has inspired me and got me thinking about what I can do with my skills to help others. I’m still trying to figure that out for the time being. However, while I was searching for ways to bring creative services to help the homeless, I stumbled across this amazing project happening now in Spain called Homeless Fonts. Started by a Barcelona based advertising agency, this project allows you to buy fonts created by homeless people. The website www.homelessfonts.org showcases the typefaces homeless people use to make themselves visible in the street and turn them into a way people and brands can use to promote themselves while becoming a powerful awareness raising tool. Proceeds collected from the site help finance the Arrels Foundation for the Homeless in Barcelona, which provides accommodations, food and social and health care.
You can follow Mark Bustos on Instagram and Twitter:
https://twitter.com/MarkBustos
And visit the www.homelessfonts.org to learn more about the project or purchase a font.
#BeAwesomeToSomebody
~ Walid Elshahed, Web Designer, The S3 Agency
