Clippers in hand, celebrity hairstylist Jason Schneidman trims a man’s long, disheveled locks into a neat, hipster cut before clipping his grizzly beard into presentable facial hair.
However, his latest client isn’t sitting in Schneidman’s swanky chair in a high-end Beverly Hills salon. Instead, he’s seated on an upside-down bucket and having his excess hair on the back of his neck cleaned up with a leaf blower.
That’s because the man in question is homeless, and on this Sunday morning, like so many others, Schneidman is volunteering his services at Samoshel, a Santa Monica homeless shelter that provides interim housing for around 70 men and women.
“I’m doing great,” the homeless man says when asked what he thinks of his haircut. “This guy’s amazing.”
When not giving free haircuts to the homeless, Schneidman is employed at the Beverly Hills-based Chris McMillan Salon, whose clients include late-night talk show host James Corden, musician David Foster and actor Dustin Hoffman.
“I approach them like they are people, like they are me, because I was that person, because all I needed was a helping hand.” — Jason Schneidman
Schneidman said the free haircuts, which he started doing a year ago, began by accident. One of his clients, filmmaker Stephen Kessler, was interested in filming Schneidman giving free haircuts to business people on the street who were in need of makeovers. They went into a U-Haul dealership looking for a day worker in need of a haircut, and the woman at the counter told them there was a drunken man in the alley who could use one. And so, haircuts for the homeless was born.
The now 47-year-old was able to connect with homeless people facing struggles with alcoholism and substance abuse because he had become addicted to alcohol and drugs in his late 20s when he was living in Long Beach.
Sober now for 14 years, Schneidman said cutting hair has always been his anchor, and with the support of his family and the help of an employer who paid for his rehab while he worked as his assistant, Schneidman turned his life around. He’s now a happily married father of two and lives in Venice.
To date, Schneidman has cut the hair of nearly 100 homeless people, either at a single location like Samoshel, or simply by approaching people on the street and offering his services.
“I approach them like they are people, like they are me, because I was that person, because all I needed was a helping hand,” Schneidman told the Journal.
Additionally, the self-described “twice-a-year Jew” said Judaism teaches giving back to others.
“When I got sober I was like, ‘I want to go to shul,’and it was the High Holidays, and I showed up and it was the first time I could sit and listen because my head was clear, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God, Judaism is amazing. It is like recovery. It is all about love and service.’ ”
On this particular Sunday at the Santa Monica shelter, Schneidman’s parents, Daisy and Vic, showed up to donate supplies to the homeless.
Vic said his son’s work with the homeless brings Jewish values to life.
“It resonates with tzedakah, tikkun olam,” he said.
Schneidman, however, dismissed any notion that he’s a role model.
“I’m not a pillar of society,” he said. “I’m just a 47-year-old kid that loves life.”
