Franciscan Ministries' Newsletter - Winter 2024

WINTER 2024 NEWSLETTER The Begging Bowl

Message from the Interim Executive Director In this edition of the Franciscan Ministries Newsletter, the spotlight is on our program Haircuts from the Heart.

Our full-time mobile stylist has been very busy! However, despite all of her hard work - we continue to receive regular requests for our services. We are happy to report we have hired a part-time barber to allow us to reach more clients and partner with more agencies as they come forward.

As we continue to expand our services, our need to cover expenses also grows. Your heartfelt donations will continue to provide for those with unmet needs. Thank you in advance for your support.

Message from the Director of Haircuts from the Heart Have you ever noticed that a good haircut can simply make your day?

You smile more, you carry yourself with a little more confidence, and there is a bit more pep in your step.

In 2018, I was honored to be trusted with the leadership of the Haircuts from the Heart program. In the time since we have remained steadfast in our belief that everyone, everywhere, deserves to feel good about themselves and how they look, and in our commitment to offer this opportunity in a variety of ways at a variety of locations to meet a variety of needs. ~ Marci Peebles

May God Bless you with good health and peace throughout 2024. ~ Sr. Ann Cecile Albers, SFP

Want to help?

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Are you a licensed barber or cosmetologist looking to give back? If you operate out of a salon, shop, or loft please consider our Student Voucher Program. There is also a need for volunteers to jump in as a second chair at some of our more in-demand mobile sites.

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Don’t have a license but would like to support our efforts financially? We welcome donations of any size towards our program expenses – Just scan our QR code or go to our website, www.FranciscanMinistiresInc.org.

THANK YOU to all of our partners – we literally would be nothing without you!

THANK YOU to all of our donors – especially our Anonymous Angel who donated $500 to outfit our van with new tires!

History of Haircuts from the Heart

Meet the Haircuts from the Heart Team Marci Peebles Director of Operations Marci was hired at Franciscan Ministries in 2011, and in 2018, she assumed the Director’s role for Haircuts from the Heart in addition to her other program responsibilities, resulting in her current inclusive title of Director of Operations.

Back in Business at Our Mini-Salon “The Shop”

We are so pleased to be able to announce that our brick and mortar efforts in OTR have resumed! Our mini-salon space at Mary Magdalen House is again open for business. We have recently added a second licensure to the location – allowing us to now operate under the watchful eye of a licensed cosmetologist or a licensed barber – making it much easier to staff and maintain. “The Shop” as we have started to affectionately refer to it, is currently open to MMH clients during their morning hours.

2023 by the Numbers: 1 full-time licensed cosmetologist 1 van & 6,791 miles on the road 31 mobile locations across 26 agencies 3 special hair-cutting events 1,661 in-person haircuts provided 69 student vouchers redeemed 2 2 | Info@FranciscanMinistriesInc.org

Marci loves what she does - being a part of FM’s mission of meeting unmet needs in the community while carrying on the charism of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor. When not at FM, Marci can be found reading a good book, enjoying a hot cup of coffee with a friend, wandering in nature with her husband, or trying to put together college-appropriate care packages for her twin sons.

Franciscan Ministries’ longest running program, Haircuts from the Heart, was first imagined by Sr. Bonnie Steinlage, SFP, in 1986. Sr. Bonnie, a nurse and hospital chaplain at the time, felt called to do more after hearing the Ash Wednesday gospel: “When you fast, groom your hair and wash your face so that no one will know you are fasting but only your Father who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:17-18) After becoming licensed, Sr Bonnie volunteered at Mary Magdalen House, a shower house located in Over-the-Rhine.

She set up a makeshift salon in a handicap bathroom and began providing haircuts to those experiencing homelessness. Within a few years came the opening of the St John Daymaker Salon and soon after the creation of a Voucher Program to assist throughout Cincinnati beyond the salon.

By 2009, the program had built and opened a larger salon and office inside the Mercy Franciscan St. John Social Service Center in Over-The-Rhine. This remained our home until Mercy St. John closed its doors six years later.

Haircuts, however, could not be stopped. The need did not go away, so neither did we – we simply went mobile! With no stationary salon

chair to our name, our stylist began travelling to social service organizations to provide basic hair care services on site to the clientele at the agencies.

Coming full circle in 2017, Mary Magdalen House invited Haircuts to set up a Mini-Salon within its new facility at the St. Anthony Center in OTR, and we split our efforts between this location and our mobile sites.

Over the next few years, our staff increased, our hours expanded, and the voucher program was re-imagined to target children and students exclusively as our salon and mobile programs could not accommodate them. All was going well with the number of clients served growing monthly – and then the pandemic hit. Haircuts, along with everyone else, landed in limbo.

However, as was the case many times before, Haircuts could not be stopped. Our time on hiatus was spent re-tooling, re-visioning, and re-imagining … and once restrictions were lifted, we began re-building. As of January 1, 2024, we have provided 3,208 haircuts post pandemic, and we are again gaining steam.

We are the little engine that could – thank you Sr. Bonnie, for starting us off right!

Margarita Whitson Licensed Cosmetologist Margarita is a New Jersey native now residing in Cincinnati, OH. She graduated from the Atlantic County Institute of Technology with a certificate of Cosmetology. At the age of 21, Margarita opened up her very first hair salon in which she serviced people from different social, economic and ethnic backgrounds. In 2012 she opened up her second hair salon which she used to hold back to school events so children could receive free haircuts. In 2017 she moved to Cincinnati and is now Co-Pastor at Reality Sanctuary Church.

One of her many passions is being able to help people and assist them in acquiring the proper tools to be able to live the life they deserve.

Travis Johnson Licensed Barber A native of Memphis, Travis has been a licensed barber in the state of Ohio since 2009, when he began cutting hair in an Over-The-Rhine shop.

Seeing and understanding the needs of the community, as well as his compassion for helping others, translated into his choice to stay and live and work in OTR for his entire adult life. Travis has been inspired over the years to find ways to respond and to give back to those in need, and adding this work with Haircuts from the Heart fits that calling. Married with two incredible sons, he continues to cut hair in OTR with the mindset of “how can I help?” He is thankful for the opportunity to serve a community that has taken such good care of him.

Helping Kids Look Good, Feel Good, and Fit In We all know that if you feel good about yourself you are more likely feel confident and to succeed in all that you do. Here at Franciscan Ministries we know that this applies to kids too! However, the majority of our hands-on services are not provided at times and in locations that are conducive to reaching school-aged clients. In response, Haircuts from the Heart re-imagined our former voucher program to be geared towards the younger set.

Through this program we rely on distributing partners - schools, service agencies, churches – to help to identify and connect to families whose children could benefit from a free haircut. These wonderful individuals and organizations get the vouchers (and a list of participating hair-care professionals) into the clients’ hands for us.

The baton then gets passed to our dedicated provider partners who are made up of licensed barbers and cosmetologists operating out of shops, salons, and schools. They generously provide care and cuts to the kiddos who sit in their chairs. In return, FM reimburses these providers directly at a negotiated rate for their part in cycle.

We are always looking to add both distributing and provider partners. If you or someone you know is affiliated with an organization that works with families who may benefit, please reach out to us to discuss the possibility.

Similarly, if you or someone you know may be interested in providing basic hair-care at their location, contact us. We would be happy to see if a partnership would be mutually beneficial.

Please note that provider partners must hold an active state license and cannot be operating out of a home.

If you are not able to partner in these ways but would still like to be involved, the Student Voucher Program is a grant and donation funded endeavor – please consider supporting our efforts.

Inquiries should be directed to Marci Peebles at mpeebles@FranciscanMinistriesInc.org.

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Franciscan Ministries, Inc. 110 Compton Road Cincinnati, OH 45215

What Exactly Does Mobile Mean?

Our mobile program works, like most of our programs, through partnerships. Over the years, as the need for our services has grown across the span of the greater Cincinnati area, and we have reached out to best meet this need by meeting the clients where they are – literally.

Carrying a high-top folding chair, a cape, some clippers, and the keys, our stylist ventures out Monday through Friday travelling from location to location and setting up shop. Each site handles their own system for securing a spot in the chair and is responsible for notifying us ahead of time if there is no need on a scheduled date.

Typically services will be offered in a three hour window once a month at each location; although, some sites are visited more or less frequently depending on the schedule set by FM and the agency. Most sites limit cuts to those who are current resident or clients of their agency; however, some are open to walk-ins. These sites are purposely scheduled with more frequent stops in the rotation.

Our dream is to continue to expand our reach in providing these much-needed services. We invite an interested, licensed cosmetologist or barbers to consider volunteering with us, providing a second chair at some of our more in-demand locations. Please contact Marci Peebles at mpeebles@FranciscanMinistriesInc.org to explore this possibility.

“I wanted to tell you that Rachel (name changed) made sure to stop by and find me after her haircut. She showed off her new cut and was BEAMING with pride and excitement. She loved it. It really filled my bucket to see her so excited and feel so seen after her time with you.

THANK YOU for all you do and for bringing humanity to people in big and small ways.” ~ Mobile Partner Lead, Cincinnati Works