Nasir Sobhani, a barber in Melbourne, Australia, was once asked for a free haircut by a shaggy, unkempt guy washing the barbershop’s windows. The window washer said it was to celebrate being heroin-free for a whole month.

Sobhani had been down the addiction road himself, so he said yes. When the newly groomed man’s mom came to meet him, she was moved to tears by the transformation.

Moved by the difference his work had made for one struggling guy, Sobhani started doing free haircuts on his only day off.

The “Streets Barber” was soon adding shaves and shampoos all across the city. People who have been living on the streets for years, people who frighten and repell many who rush past, not even looking at them, are now getting skilled grooming help and a caring listener who lets them know he’s been where they are.

“I remember the days when I used to just hate myself and not even look in the mirror without crying because I would just be so disgusted.”

When Sobhani’s clients see themselves looking good in his mirrors, they usually give him permission to share before-and-after photos and a bit of their stories so people who haven’t had their experiences can recognize and share their humanity.

Sobhani is committed to going into places many won’t go, making real contact with people others see as dangerous, all day on his one day off, saying it’s the best high he’s ever experienced.