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10/24/2018 08:30 AMJosé Rios has a long history of using his barbering skills to better the community. His most recent effort sought to improve the climate in East Haven schools—while sharpening up the looks of several dozen students along the way.
On Oct. 14, José and a few of his fellow barbers at the Major League Barber Academy on Foxon Road got together at the Beachhouse on Cosey Beach Road to offer free haircuts to kids in any grade. The event was called Cut Bullying Out of East Haven.
“It’s just a nice way to put the families together and bring them in and boost the kids’ confidence,” said Erika Santiago, a Board of Education member who helped to organize and publicize the event in schools.
Santiago says the barbers cut 68 heads of hair in a six-hour marathon—there were just three barbers and one hairstylist. The kids ranged in age from elementary to high school.
In the future, José wants to add more barbers and even extend the hours of the event so that more kids can come. He also hopes to hold the event in other towns like New Haven and West Haven to offer the same help to other families and students.
José started cutting hair when both he and his cousin were 14. Instead of spending the money they’d been given for the barber on haircuts, they’d cut each other’s hair.
“I was not supposed to be the barber,” José said—it had been his cousin’s idea in the first place.
José says he thought he was going to end up working on vehicles for a living like his cousin did, but when he discovered he was good with the clippers, José kept cutting his friends’ hair.
Eventually, his friend Ray, who now operates a salon in East Haven, gave José a shot working in his old shop in Fair Haven. He’s now been cutting hair for 20 years.
He started on the community service path while working in Fair Haven. When he was in New Haven one day, José was looking at the people on the green.
“You see a lot of people messed up with addiction. Especially on the green, you see a lot of homeless people,” José says. “I was thinking, ‘I’m a barber, how can I help these people?’”
His answer to himself: “give them a haircut to make them feel good about themselves,” José says.
The way he sees it, there are many ways to help a person. Even a small action can lead to the betterment of a person’s life.
“It’s a proven fact that when a person gets a haircut, they feel better about themselves,” José says. “Maybe there’s a little seed I could plant and something could happen.”
Inspired by his seven year old daughter, José’s idea eventually transformed into an event to prevent bullying in East Haven schools.
“I was telling [a friend] that I have a daughter that’s special needs and I was a little afraid of kids bullying her…and we came up with a good idea,” José says. “Let’s help the kids that get bullied and make them look good so nobody can mess with them.”
For José, working as a barber means he gets to meet a lot of people, people who become like a second family to him. He watches kids grow up and many of those clients will follow him, even when he moves to a new shop, as he did in his move to East Haven two years ago.
Many of his clients in Fair Haven were from East Haven, so he’s been able to stay in touch with the same guys for many years
“I know a lot of kids that are grown men now with families,” José says. “I know more people in East Haven.”
José has four daughters, two with his wife, Amanda. He says that the kids are the future, so events like Cut Bullying Out of East Haven are important to him.
“I feel like, if I help our future is going to be better,” José says. “One simple haircut can make a difference.”
José is still thinking about more ways he can give back to the community.
“Every little thing that you can do for the community counts, that’s the way I see it,” he says. “There’s other ways to help people so they can be successful and get out of a bad situation they’re in.”
To nominate a Person of the Week, email Nathan Hughart at n.hughart@Zip06.com.