Our Founder and Executive Director, Ibrahim Musa, of being featured on Apathy is Boring's #150YearsYoung campaign, highlighting the Cuts For Kids Foundation.
Thank you Apathy is Boring for telling our story, and Ottawa Community Housing - OCH for supporting us.
““It is the social programs that feed us, and clothe us, and give us a sense of community. It is these programs that I had in mind when I created this non profit. Ottawa is a big city that has this tight-knit level of community- even if we have our differences, we still come together to make sure everyone is supported”.
At only eighteen years old, Ibrahim Musa is running his own non-profit organization, working with City Council through his role on the Ottawa Youth Engagement Committee, is an Ottawa Community Housing Ambassador and an intern at Youth Ottawa. On top of all of this, he is studying full-time at the University of Ottawa. Clearly a driven and dedicated young person, Ibrahim attributes much of his current success to his roots. Growing up as an Iraqi refugee living in Ottawa Community Housing, Ibrahim and his family worked hard to build a new home. This journey brought some larger struggles, such as transitioning from successful careers to much more limited options, and some smaller struggles, such as the visual divides of clothing and haircuts that come from being part of a different income level than other kids at school. Fast forward to 2016, where many of the difficulties of his childhood were behind him and Ibrahim was busy completing the twelfth grade, when he heard a story from a friend who worked at a children’s camp. The story was of a young camper who avoided participating in activities because of his overgrown hair- clearly someone in dire need of a haircut. Remembering those feelings of low self-esteem and self-confidence, Ibrahim decided to take action and ensure that no child misses opportunity because of their economic status.
Less than a year later and with the help of a dedicated team of volunteers, charitable community members, local barbershops and hair salons, and lawyers offering pro-bono assistance, Cuts For Kids was born. The organization offers free haircuts for children in need through community events, which are extensively promoted throughout the community in the weeks leading up. As the Executive Director, Ibrahim now manages a team of eight staff, all of whom work unpaid and are dedicated to the cause, and together they run between 8-10 events every year and coordinate 2-4 fundraisers. While these numbers are impressive, Ibrahim cites his biggest success as the smile on a child’s face when they get off the barber chair with a new haircut. http://www.cutsforkids.org/
#150yy #Canada150 www.150yearsyoung.com”