Short Back and Sidewalks signs up its first paid employee to help drive its expansion to tackle homelessness.
SHORT Back and Sidewalks was founded by civil engineer Craig Hollywood in early 2015 to provide free haircuts and grooming services to people experiencing homelessness in Perth.
What started in a carpark in Northbridge as a volunteer-run organisation, and now operates in four major cities across Australia, will welcome its first paid employee in early September.
Mr Hollywood will step into a non-executive director role next month as Natalie Jenkins joins the organisation as chief executive.
Mr Hollywood said expansion to Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide elevated Short Back and Sidewalks’ capacity to help people.
“We’ve positively impacted the lives of over 10,000 people experiencing homelessness and poverty, and we’re about to take our next steps of growth,” he said.
“Tonight, in Australia, there are over 123,000 people experiencing homelessness and there are also over 3.5 million people who live below the poverty line.
“Our objective is to help as many people as possible and for us to take Short Back and Sidewalks as far as we can, and for that we must be national.”
The Short Back and Sidewalks concept began to grow in Mr Hollywood’s mind after the death of a family member who was experiencing homelessness.
He realised he wanted to help people facing the same struggle.
“Losing my uncle to homelessness lit the fire of empathy in me,” Mr Hollywood said.
“Every time I see someone in need or experiencing homelessness or poverty, I think of him.”
Mr Hollywood admitted he always enjoyed having his hair cut because it fostered human connection.
“I remember my uncle used to feel like people had forgotten about him,” he said.
“He wasn’t able to connect, and I immediately think of a haircut as the time I get to sit there and chat and connect.
“For people experiencing homelessness and poverty, unfortunately those opportunities don’t come around often.
“I can’t cut hair, I work in civil engineering, so I could design your road ware, drainage or sewerage system but not your haircut, so I needed to find people who could cut hair.”
The first barber shop Mr Hollywood pitched the Short Back and Sidewalks idea to jumped at the opportunity to collaborate on the project.
He said within minutes, one of the barbers told him to stop, mid-pitch.
“The barber said, ‘we’re in’,” he said.
“He said the reason he was in was because his father also experienced the same situation as my uncle.
“He immediately said, ‘the fire of empathy burns inside me as well’.”
Since then, Short Back and Sidewalks has grown to collaborate with established service providers across the metro region, including St Bart’s, RUAH, Boorloo Bidee Mia and 55 Central, among others.
Perth-based volunteers visit the venues on a regular basis and provide haircuts.
“The work that’s gone into Short Back and Sidewalks over the years has been amazing, but I keep thinking about sustainability and consistency and like any business, that requires paid staff,” Mr Hollywood said.
“Short Back and Sidewalks has been volunteer-run for its entire existence and that isn’t sustainable anymore.
“For us to achieve our strategic objectives, we need to transition from a volunteer organisation to a small to medium not for profit with paid staff.”
As the first paid employee at Short Back and Sidewalks, Ms Jenkins is expected to nurture strategic direction and drive growth for the organisation.
Mr Hollywood said now was the perfect time to welcome her into the role.
“It’s an opportunity to grow the business because it was never meant to be one person’s idea,” he said.
“It was meant to be a community of collaboration and for us to welcome Natalie as CEO is an amazing moment for the organisation’s growth.”
Ms Jenkins has held senior executive positions in the not-for-profit sector for more than three decades, with particular focus on creative industries.
“Having had a career in the arts, which is all about human stories and humanity, Short Back and Sidewalks’ mission speaks in a similar way for me,” Ms Jenkins said.
“That notion of providing something critical for any human and, I imagine, is often forgotten as being important to someone who’s really struggling with the basic needs of shelter, food and those things we all should have.
“For me, it’s about passion to do things for the community … in a number of different ways, and I see that connect through all the different not-for-profit organisations that exist.”
Ms Jenkins said it was important for service providers such as Short Back and Sidewalks to exist as it recognised a problem and provided empathy and support for people.
Short Back and Sidewalks recently underwent a strategic refresh and Mr Hollywood said it would begin assisting people who lived below the poverty line as well as those experiencing homelessness.
People living in poverty may not be homeless but they were still in need of supportive services.
“We’re looking to introduce an in-salon experience for those people,” Mr Hollywood said.
Short Back and Sidewalks is poised to expand to 10 major regions in Western Australia over the next two years, bolstered by a $350,000 grant from the federal government.
In addition to Ms Jenkins’ appointment as chief executive, Short Back and Sidewalks welcomed Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA chief economist Tim Marney as chair.
Mr Marney brings more than 30 years’ experience from a range of industries to the organisation and will be a key player in the organisation’s continued growth.
He was the under treasurer of WA for nearly 10 years, until 2014 when he became mental health commissioner for the state for five years.
