CLEVELAND, Ohio —  Waverly Willis' Urban Kutz barbershops have been closed for almost two months due to COVID-19 restrictions. He says he is ready to continue serving his community when it’s safe to do so, but most importantly, he’s ready to continue supporting his family and himself financially. 

• A Cleveland barbershop owner says he and the barbers who work at his shop haven't qualified for any financial government assistance
• After two months of losing money due to COVID-19 restrictions, he's looking forward to getting back to regaining financial stability
• He says customers in his shop will be required to wear masks and if they don't have one, it will be provided

When COVID-19 restrictions forced Waverly Willis to close his barbershops in March, he was hopeful that he and the barbers that work in his Urban Kutz shops would qualify for some sort of financial government assistance. 

“I spoke to the people at my bank,and the people on the city, county and state level, they assured me that they had loans in place and when they would open up they encourage me, my team, as well as other barber and salon owners to apply for,” Willis says.

But he quickly found out that help was not on the way  Willis’ business doesn't  qualify for relief because of its structure — a structure that he say’s isn’t unique to the hair and beauty industry.

“This is your chair and you would rent this chair from me. You give me a weekly fee, I give you a receipt, and that's it," Willis said. "This is not a new model. This has been around for the past hundred years when barbershops and salons started popping up all over America. Everyone said apply for the PPP, which means Paycheck. Protection Program. I don't get a paycheck and I don't have payrolls. These barbers that work at both my locations, they don't work for me. They work with me. They are independent contractors, they work for themselves, so I don't pay them, their clients pay them. So there is no payroll, there is no 1099, and pretty much they said if you do not have payroll, 1099, things of that nature. we cannot help, just flat out.” 

With Governor Mike Dewine's Thursday announcement that hair salons and barbershops can reopen on May 15th, Willis can get back on the path to  regain financial stability, while implementing safety measures.

“I just want to thank the working group. We had barbers, we had hairstylists, we had people from all over the state of Ohio who helped us do this, who wrote these recommendations, who came up with the best practices," said DeWine.

“There is no more walk-in. It’s going to have to be appointment only. The waiting area is pretty much eliminated. If you can't have people sit six feet apart, they're going to have to wait in their cars, barbers are gonna have to wear gloves, masks, and if you're not cutting hair you will be cleaning,” Willis said.

And Willis isn’t alone. Chareen Fountain, owner of Styles of Success hair salon, is taking similar measures to prepare for reopening day. 

“I’ve already changed my seating waiting area. You can't sit here and wait for your stylist to come to work. Those days are long gone. You have to switch out those styling capes, you have to take a little more time now that after a customer, you have to change the way you're doing and operating your chair, and that's the only way this will work and I’m sure they're ready to do it, because I’m ready to do it,”Fountain said.

Fountain’s search for financial assistance while closed is similar to the situation Willis faced. 

“I have filled out so many applications, grants, I do not want a loan, I built them out anyway. And for my industry, I feel like we're being shut out,” she said.

She says she’s using this situation as motivation to ensure that the hair and beauty industry is  better supported during emergency situations in the future and that change isn’t going to happen without the voices of those who work behind the chair.

“We want to better the system that we have on shutting down salons and barbershops, and I don't want to leave my estheticians and nail techs out, but we have to find a way to help each other and they can't do it without us,” Fountain said.