LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Thoughts Out Loud program has partnered with The Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods to focus on young individuals who are at high risk for becoming a victim of violence or being a perpetrator of violence in Louisville. J. Alexander with The Lab Professional Barbering Services has been a barber for 28 years who wants to use barber chair to address mental health in the community.
During the pandemic in 2020, he worked with a group that helped inspire the Thoughts Out Loud mentorship program.
“Where Black men will go in and speak about depression and mental health, mental well-being in the Black community,” shared Alexander.
Alexander says he has seen the power of what the barber chair can do in others’ lives by addressing mental health and violence.
“We just started a program with the city on Monday and we had a gentleman here to receive the service and he said he would like to come back. And he actually liked the fact that he had a curriculum in his hand as he’s in the chair. So he’s filling out the paperwork. And he said he really liked it. Within this program and within this curriculum, that the youth will be solving the social ills that plague our community,” said Alexander.
Tonika Reed, with the Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods, says their goal is to address the root causes of violence within the community. Reed says this program is important especially for their clients because it’s an individual program that focuses on the individual.
“When they get that one-on-one positive attention, it just can change their life. And it shows them that, hey, I can make a decision, and it’s okay. I can choose to go this way and it’s okay. But at the same time, I have people that support me and I know that I do not have to live the way I live because of where I live,” said Reed.
“We just want to be able to actively listen to our clients and positively communicate. So again, I’m just an active advocate for mental health and mental well-being. I’m not necessarily a clinician. So our goal is to try to get them to the proper people that they may need to see. Once we may hear a buzz word of some issue and they know,” said Alexander.
It’s one way to combat violence in young individuals from behind and beyond the barber chair.
“Try to save these children as many as we can. You know, I mean, if we just impact one child, we’ve done our job. So, again, this is really a cry and a plea to my barber comrades that I need their help, man, so we collectively can help our community,” Alexander said.
He says this is just the start of Thoughts Out Loud and hopes this program will continue to grow and impact the community. The Thoughts Out Loud Program is currently only offered to the clients of the Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods.