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With a salon in a church foyer, Westside Melbourne Salvos Sunshine is helping people in the community feel seen and heard — one haircut at a time.

Between paying rent, buying food and caring for her children, one mum had gone seven years without seeing a hairdresser. Over many tough years, caring for her family and struggling to make ends meet, a visit to the salon was simply out of the question.

It's a story Salvos Captain Phuong Reynolds at Westside Melbourne Salvos Sunshine (a church and community centre, known in The Salvation Army as a corps) hears often.

Located in Melbourne's west, Phuong — a Salvation Army officer (pastor) and former professional hairdresser — is helping people in her community feel more confident and connected.

Together with a team of volunteer hairdressers, she transforms the church foyer into a makeshift salon, where simple haircuts often lead to meaningful conversations about life's challenges.

Ahead of R U OK? Day 2026, those conversations are a reminder that simple acts of care also help support emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing.

Providing care for the Sunshine community

Once a month, the foyer of the Salvos church transforms into a makeshift salon. Mirrors lean against the walls while hairdryers hum beside trays of fresh vegetables and cups of tea.

Phuong and her volunteer hairdressing team wheel out trolleys filled with sprays, combs, scissors and neck dusters while other volunteers offer fresh vegetables, food and cups of tea.

As the hairdressing crew trims hair, conversations with community members about family struggles, loneliness, mental health, addiction, housing stress and the pressure of trying to survive week to week begin to unfold naturally.

There is often something easier about talking side-by-side during a haircut than face-to-face.

“The conversation comes out very naturally about daily life, about family, about what’s happening in their life. They feel relaxed,” Phuong says.

“Sometimes you don’t need to say anything. You’re just there to listen.”

Addressing mental health and creating a safe space to talk

For Phuong, creating spaces where people feel seen, heard and valued is part of living out her Christian faith in practical ways.

One man who came in for a haircut spoke openly about living with mental health challenges and social anxiety. He said going to a traditional salon would be too overwhelming.

Another man arrived during the centre's Friday community meal after noticing the salon chairs set up in the foyer. He was struggling with his mental health and trying unsuccessfully to find work.

“He wanted to look good and represent himself well, but he couldn’t afford to go to the salon,” Phuong says.

After the haircut, she noticed the difference immediately.

“It built confidence and hope.” 

Believing in good for all the community

Phuong says loneliness is one of the biggest struggles she sees in the community.

“People live by themselves, or they have family troubles, sickness, gambling, addiction or they are looking for work,” she says. “If there is someone there who can listen, it makes a difference.”

Many people coming through the doors are already stretched financially.

For Phuong and her husband, Colin Reynolds, who also leads Westside Melbourne Salvos Sunshine, dignity is central to everything they do. Colin says the team seeks to care for ‘the holistic person’, wanting people ‘to be healthy on the inside and feel beautiful on the outside’.

A life dedicated to faith, dignity and community outreach

Originally from Vietnam, Phuong grew up around hairdressing. Her parents owned a salon and she later became a hairdresser herself. She moved to Australia in 1998 after marrying her Australian husband, Colin.

She still laughs remembering the first time they met in 1996 while she was working in a tailor shop and as a hairdresser.

“Colin came in with very long hair,” she says. “I joked he looked like Jesus.”

The next day he booked a haircut and the rest is history.

Nearly 30 years later, the couple now lead Salvation Army ministry together across Melbourne’s west.

Community support services available at Salvos Sunshine

Westside Melbourne Salvos Sunshine offers community meals, food parcels, fresh produce, referrals to other services as needed, showers, clothing support and opportunities for connection throughout the week.

The haircut ministry sits within a broader Salvation Army focus on creating welcoming community spaces where people can access support while also finding conversation, care and belonging.

For some people experiencing homelessness or crisis, being able to shower, change clothes and receive a haircut can help restore confidence and dignity.

“Many say to me, ‘You make me feel like I’m human now,’” Phuong says quietly.

Over the years, Phuong says her faith and community work have become impossible to separate.

“When I help people, I feel like we are the hands and feet of Jesus,” she says. “To bring hope and love to the community.”

This story draws on earlier reporting by Lerisse Smith for Salvos Online in Sunshine Salvos' free haircut ministry transforming lives in style. Additional reporting by Naomi Singlehurst.

Quick facts — community connection at The Salvation Army