AURORA, Colo. — Barber Taza “T” Gillespie has been trying to make a difference for the past 20 years of cutting hair.
In 2017, he had an idea to give free haircuts to the unhoused on Thanksgiving Day. It was a tradition that grew into him setting up shop on the sidewalk of Lincoln Street between 14th and Colfax avenues every Monday morning. He would get about 30 customers each session.
“It made me feel good inside,” Gillespie said. “I was able to give back and to see the smiles on a lot of the unfortunate people’s faces, and seeing that it was doing something for them.”
The Metro Denver Homeless Initiative 2023 Point-in-Time count released in July showed a more than 30% increase in people experiencing homelessness over the year before.
The count was done Jan. 30 and included those staying in shelters and outdoors. The count found 9,065 people experiencing homelessness, a 31.7% increase from 2022. The number of those who are experiencing homelessness for the first time is up from 2,634 to 3,996, according to the report.
"A lot of people out there are struggling," Gillespie said. "So I just try to help them along the way, try to help them along the way."
One of those haircuts was for a customer who just goes by Nick. He was homeless at the time and looking for a way to get back on his feet. In 2016, his mother passed away and he got into a car crash. That’s when, he said, he developed a chemical dependency on pain pills, which eventually caused him to lose his job. He said eventually he ended up staying in shelters and on the streets. That’s when he met Gillespie cutting hair downtown.
“So when I met T and found that I could come to him every week, it was one of the few times that I actually felt normal in my day-to-day," Nick said.
“Nick, he was one of my first people,” Gillespie said. “Every time I would get down there, he was the first one there wanting to help me set up. He would hang out with me and sweep and help me clean up, and I really liked that about him, even though he was one of the unfortunate people at that time.”
But the free haircuts would only help Nick so far. After he met T, Nick said, he had health problems that required an emergency surgery to remove part of his gastrointestinal tract.
“I was bed-ridden at the end. My belly was blown out,” Nick said. “I couldn’t walk to the paramedics. They had to wheel me out.”
“I was with him when he was going through his situation with his surgery,” Gillespie said. “I was still trying to help him, and he was still trying to do better for himself. He wasn’t just giving up.”
Nick said he was on and off the streets for six years before he made the decision to change his life. In February 2022, he moved into an apartment. He got a job at Goodwill a few months later. Both opportunities, he said, were made possible by meeting T.
“I never would have dreamed after where I was when I met T, that I would be where I am now,” Nick said. “I just didn’t see it, and things are going well and he’s been a big part of that.”
“There were a couple of times where I gave him a few bucks just for sweeping for me because I know he needed it,” Gillespie said. “Him not giving up kind of made me feel good too because there were a lot of other people that I was helping out at the same time.”
Last year, Nick unexpectedly reunited with T, who is now working at Ms. Lillie’s Beauty Salon & Barber Shop in Aurora, just a few miles from Nick’s apartment. The two now get together every couple of weeks to reminisce about the past over a haircut that T is still proud to do free of charge.
“It makes me feel good inside because I was able to give back,” Gillespie said. “[He’s] on his feet now and [he’s] come a long way.”
Nick said now it’s his turn to give back. He recently reconnected with family and is coming up with a business plan to help others in the same situation he was in.
“I’m not struggling for anything. My bills are paid. I’m very blessed,” Nick said. “Everybody’s situation is unique, but if I can help one person that just needed that one little bit of help and take it and run with it, it would be all worth it to me.”
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