Salvation Army Continues to Support Family Who Moved from Texas to Fargo

Kids and their parents are lining up outside of Josef's to check in with the Salvation Army to get a free clean cut to start off the year

FARGO, N.D. — Getting your kids ready for school can get expensive and for many families in the metro, they can’t afford all the preparations.

KVRR’s Jessie Cohen tells us why one woman is grateful for a partnership that’s provided free haircuts to her four children.

“You never know what could happen from one day to another. We lost our house due to a fire. That’s one of the main reasons we moved over here. We said you know what we’re just going to start from the beginning again but somewhere different,” said Rebecca Hernandez, a mother of four who just moved to Fargo.

After leaving their life in Texas behind and moving to Fargo, Rebecca says this community has helped her family get on their feet.

“Right now we are in a really tight situation since we just moved up here we are literally starting from zero so it’s a lot of help,” Hernandez said.

Things may be tough for the Hernandez family, but that hasn’t stopped the jitters from kicking in for the new school year…

“My daughter is very nervous. She is starting sixth grade and in a totally different school she has no friends here,” Hernandez said.

Now Josef’s School of Hair and the Salvation Army are helping hundreds of families like Rebecca’s.

“We just try to find what we can do to make the biggest impact on people…we have 60 stations set up this year and we were able to serve 200 children last year and we anticipate doing at least that this year,” said Vangie O’Neal, a Salvation Army Corps Officer.

“They are looking forward to different cuts that they’ve never gotten. They want to try something different so let’s see how it goes,” Hernandez said.

It’s not just about physically getting ready for that first day of school but it’s about feeling good, looking in that mirror, liking what they see heading out of Joseph’s, going home and packing up their backpacks to get ready for that first day of school.

When the clock struck 12, the line was out the door.

“My kids were like no were not going to be able to get our haircut I think they are all full,” Hernandez said.

But each kid got the chance to get their scalps scrubbed, their hair chopped and their moment of happiness when it was all over.

“That just makes it even better when everybody can leave happy everybody can get something out of the process. You know that’s what happens when a community works together, everybody wins,” O’Neal said.

Rebecca says these haircuts are just one example of how the Fargo community has welcomed her and her family.

“There is so much here to do so much help, lots of extracurricular activities for the kids…we love it here, it’s different,” Hernandez said.

The Salvation Army has stood by the Hernandez family in times of need…

“I’ve actually gotten help through the salvation army back where we were from,” Hernandez said.

And now she’s confident the support has followed her hundreds of miles away.

“I love the salvation army period,” Hernandez said.

The Salvation Army has been involved in this partnership with Josef’s School of Hair for free haircuts for about eight years.