RACINE, Wis. — A Wisconsin woman has found a way to give back to veterans transitioning out of homelessness.
She has found a way to make an impact on their lives one snip at a time. For the past seven months, Missy Martin has been coming to Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin and giving free haircuts to veterans. She keeps coming back because of a veteran close to her heart. Doing hair is a passion for Martin. She’s been doing it for the past 27 years. But she said these past six months or so have been a little different for her.
“Twenty-seven years ago, doing hair versus what it means to me now is totally different,” Martin said.
Each month she comes to the Tiny Home Village in Racine and cuts veterans hair for free.
“These guys deserve more than just a haircut, that’s for sure,” Martin said.
Martin runs her own hair business in Oak Creek. So, on top of her busy schedule with other clients, she said it’s important for her to take out time to do this for veterans.
Her father was a Vietnam veteran, and she knows he would be proud of what she was doing.
“My dad passed away two years ago, and he was a Vietnam veteran and I just, I guess you could say I had a calling to give back to the veterans, because I couldn’t give back to my dad anymore,” Martin said.
She is honoring her dad by continuing to give back to other veterans, just like him. It may be a simple haircut, but to these veterans it means a lot more, like helping to get a job.
“People usually tend to hire when you have a nice haircut than with a scruffy beard and a haircut that was done by yourself,” Randy, a veteran, said.
For Martin, it means the world to be able to help these veterans get back on their feet with a little pampering and a nice new look.
“It’s priceless,” Martin said.
She comes each month to give haircuts for free, but she is able to gain a lot more than money can buy.