Community heeds a call to unite and serve at second annual Feed the Homeless event

When Tyrone Hill got the call, he turned to social media and then spent the week going door-to-door to collect 350 pairs of sneakers.

When Ron Curtis, owner of Final Touch Barber Academy, got the call, he promised that a few of his student barbers would be there to offer free haircuts.

And when Ri Williams got the call, she promised to be there with 30 cases of Pure Fuel Sport, a new plant-based hydration drink and the 76ers’ official sports drink.

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And for all of them, that call came from Tone Barr.

Barr was requesting sponsors and volunteers for the second annual Feed the Homeless event on July 28 at LOVE Park, sponsored by his organization, Philadelphia United as One. And they each repeated a version of Barr’s reason as their own for heeding the call.

“I care about the community. It’s important to do,” Barr said.

Barr said he had a small army of volunteers to hand out an abundance of food, water, clothes, and toiletries. The event also had five barbers for free haircuts and over 1,500 pairs of sneakers available to choose from. He knows that Feed the Homeless isn’t the solution to housing insecurity, but he said he believes that it addresses some of their immediate needs.

“We had an overabundance of stuff, but we know it’s a temporary Band-Aid,” Barr said.

By day, Barr is the recently hired director of victims service for the Anti Violence Partnership of Philadelphia (AVP) which is contracted through the District Attorney’s Office. For the last four years he has also been the volunteer community liaison director for the Philadelphia Masjid, working to bridge the gap between the community and Masjid.

Barr created Philadelphia United as One because he didn’t think the city needed a new nonprofit but rather a group that brought people with good intentions together to tackle a problem.

“I started it in 2022 because I felt there are so many organizations doing good work but not galvanized to work together,” Barr said. Philadelphia United as One currently is currently a network of about 40 groups, each with its own support base of hundreds of people.

Hill is a cardiac anesthesia technician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who grew up in foster care from the age of 3 or 4. “Family was not an option,” Hill said. At 18, aging out of the system meant he spent his senior year of high school with unstable housing. Answering Barr’s call is a part of his ongoing commitment to give back to children in foster care.

Curtis said barbering saved him. It has been 26 years since he exited prison, but before he went in at 17 he had learned to cut hair. Upon reentry, with the ability to earn a living, he has stayed out of prison. Now, he wants to help men like Darian Bennett, 18, who found himself homeless after leaving a tense situation at his mother and stepfather’s Northampton County home.

Bennett made his way to the city and it was a free hair cut at Broad and Walnut Streets that led him to Curtis’ academy. Curtis offered him a scholarship and within 24 hours he was set to start class. “He’s still homeless and sleeps on the street, but he manages to make it to school every day,” Curtis said. “He is the first one at the school and the last to leave.”

Lamont “Mont” Brown is a former rapper and is now an artists & repertoire (A&R) rep for Columbia Records. He also has his own clothing and sneaker line: Community Service. Brown has spent the last 13 years giving back. “Being a humanitarian is not a one-off. It’s my lifestyle. Before you get served, you have to be a servant.” Brown said that’s a message both of his grandmothers instilled in him.

Brown created the Kickback Foundation, which organizes community events for seniors. In 2019 he received the Mayor’s Philly Hero Award, which recognizes people who have had an impact in their communities. On Aug. 17, the community will show its appreciation for Brown by renaming the 5500 block of Chester Avenue — where he grew up — after him.

When Barr called, Brown packed up 300 pairs of his Community Service sneakers and came out to LOVE Park.

While helping those in need is important, Barr has another equally strong motivation. He is weary that the violence and poverty that ravages many urban neighborhoods get duly reported, but the volunteer efforts of service and care go barely recognized, including the work of Philadelphia United as One members who are left to find ways to help without philanthropic or government funds.

“That’s being played in the media about the community is the gunshot victim or a robbery. Guess how many positive events in the community weren’t covered yesterday?” Barr said.

It is estimated that 4,725 people experienced homelessness in Philadelphia in 2023, a number that is thought to be an undercount but still a 5.2% increase over 2022. Barr estimated 500 unhoused people were served Sunday, more than double the amount of last year’s event.

“There were young kids there, 14 and 15 years old, who were down on their luck. It is really surprising that young kids are homeless without anywhere to live,” Barr said. “There are a lot of mental health issues that are unaddressed and also people trying to find their way.”

» READ MORE: They spent the night in the streets cataloging the extent of homelessness in Philadelphia

Terrence Hill, 31, has been unhoused for over a year and said the event was somewhat helpful, but as a man who wears a size 5X, he has a particularly hard time at all clothing drives. Rarely, he said, are there clothes available in his size. Barr said, in an effort to leave no person unserved, Williams of Pure Fuel Sports promised to work her 76ers connections to help find clothes for Hill.

This summer, Curtis has more fairs to attend with his students. Tyrone Hill (no relation to Terrence Hill) is planning a book bag drive. Brown is hosting a community festival on Aug. 19th.

But Barr, who knows Philadelphia United as One’s best efforts are only a temporary solution to homelessness, has one takeaway from the event: “We served the people yesterday. What will the city do next?”