A hair-cutter with a cause

BARSTOW • From the time she began cutting hair as a high school graduate, Amber Woods wanted to offer her clients something deeper than a new style, particularly for victims of domestic abuse.

Woods, who has cut hair for 15 years and owns the Cutting Edge Hair and Nail Salon, has often gone to an abuse victim’s home to do their hair and makeup. As a member of Cut It Out, a nationwide program with the Salon Against Abuse Fund, Woods knows what the signs of abuse can look like.

“Sometimes we’re the only people our clients tell their problems to,” she said, adding that she and her employees also often notice scratches or bruises. “We work on their self esteem and help them move on with life.”

Woods holds a cut-a-thon during Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. She will offer haircuts and shampoos for $15 and donate the proceeds to Haley House, the local domestic violence shelter. Woods has helped with Desert Manna Ministries’ Cans and Coats drive and Holiday Meals. This year the Barstow Area Chamber of Commerce named her the 2009 Up and Coming Volunteer.

“I’m surprised,” Woods said. “It’s a great honor to even be nominated. It was a very nice surprise.”

Woods, who moved to Barstow when she was in third-grade, has worked at beauty shops throughout Southern California and has done hair and makeup for photo shoots, commercials and low budget movies. She has two kids, 12-year-old Vincent and Autumn, who is seven. When her daughter was born, Woods developed fibromyalgia, or chronic fatigue syndrome, and decided to take a job that didn’t have her on her feet all the time.

She became a real-estate agent for Exit Strategy Realty, but after two years began looking for a place to set up her own salon. Woods moved into City Plaza on East Main Street about three years ago.

“I missed my profession,” she said. “It’s my first love. My passion. I have to be around it.”

Peggy Fries, executive director of Haley House and Desert Sanctuary, trained Woods and her staff how to recognize signs of domestic abuse. Woods constantly donates to the Haley House’s thrift shop, and has participated in the annual candlelight vigil that honors Becky Muñoz, who died at the hands of her ex-boyfriend in 2000.

“Amber is a very very self motivated person who has really embraced the issues surrounding domestic violence,” Fries said. “She is just a really beautiful person who really believes in what we do and contributes to it.”

Woods says she can remember Muñoz. And she can remember the first year of the candlelight vigil, walking past the trailer park where Muñoz died to Union Bank. She has also known of situations where the abuser comitted suicide.

But, there have been instances where Woods helped a woman get away from her abuser.

“It was one of the first makeovers I did,” she said. “Years later I saw her ... and she hugged me and said, ‘I never forgot what you told me that day.’ That in itself was the best reward.”

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4123 or jcejnar@desertdispatch.com