Hola, mi gente! Welcome to another throwback episode of The Wine & Chisme Podcast. This week I get to highlight Joshua Santiago. I found Joshua through the shade room instagram account and I was blown away by his passion for helping those less fortunate. He has a fascinating story and he truly deserves to be recognized for his efforts to help the unhoused community. I hope you’re as inspired by his story as I was. Enjoy!
Wine: El Potrillo Pinot Noir, 2017 by Honrama Cellars
BIO:
Joshua Santiago is a barber from North Philadelphia that provides free haircuts for the homeless. He grew up in a family that either sold drugs, did drugs, or both. He has been able to turn his life around after spending much of his youth in and out of incarceration. His grew up in a home where both of his parents were addicts and his mother has been homeless his life thus far due to drug addition.
When he found the opportunity, he ran with it and founded Empowerment Cuts, a nonprofit which allows Josh to go into area of extreme homelessness and cut hair for free. Josh believes that being able to provide a free service to someone that couldn't afford it should mean more then actually receiving money for it.
They are working on converting a 32 foot mobile home into a mobile barber with the help of GoFundMe and those who contributed to raise over $50,000.