Free haircuts, food bring Santa Rosa homeless to service event

More than 200 people, many of them homeless, came out Sunday to the Palm Inn in Santa Rosa for a one-stop event offering everything from haircuts to HIV testing, as well as Christmas music and free pizza.

Attendees also could sign up for CalFresh, and get a free cellphone and minutes through a federal program at the event sponsored by Catholic Charities.

A big lure was the free haircuts. Judy Vargas, 62, a resident at the former motel that was converted in February into permanent housing for the homeless, said she appreciated the chance for a trim.

Vargas said she worked at Mervyn’s and Levi Strauss & Co. before losing her job and falling into alcoholism. She had been homeless for nine years before she got a room in April at the inn, which serves ?118 people.

“You are just one paycheck away from being homeless,” said Vargas, and a haircut is a luxury. “This is an important thing in life that a lot of people take for granted.”

Keith Taylor, 59, had 6 inches of hair chopped off for a high-and-tight haircut similar to what he had when he served as a Marine.

“Sometimes, I will just let it grow. But after a while, you get tired of combing it,” Taylor said.

Also a Palms Inn resident, Taylor said he saved strands of his hair so it could be buried with the body of his grandfather who recently died.

The haircuts proved popular, said Jennielynn Holmes, director of shelter and housing for Catholic Charities, because they allow the homeless to feel less isolated and provide a boost of self confidence.

“It’s so low in the priority list when food and shelter is No. 1,” she said. “This allows them to feel a little more connected to community so they aren’t feeling like people are looking at them, staring at them and judging them.”

Most of the residents at the facility pay their rent with federal low-income housing subsidies provided by area housing agencies. Almost half of the residents are veterans, said Holmes.

Catholic Charities and the Veterans Administration provide support services, property management and 24-hour staffing for the inn, located at ?3345 Santa Rosa Ave.

Volunteers by the end of the day handed out more than 1,000 articles of clothing and 145 toiletry bags. Forty-four people received free food to take home, Holmes said.

You can reach Staff ?Writer Bill Swindell at 707-521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com.