Unilever presents:

The New Look

To Dallas Chamber of Commerce for Business Gives Back Competition 2015

Monica Canales

Suzanne Okpara

Patrick Tran

Table of Contents
1.

2.

3.

4.

Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 2
1.1

Objective of Proposal ....................................................................................................... 2

1.2

Why Dallas? ...................................................................................................................... 2

1.3

The Effects of the Proposal .............................................................................................. 2

1.4

Summation of Proposal .................................................................................................... 2

Background .............................................................................................................................. 2
2.1

Homelessness ................................................................................................................... 3

2.2

Importance of Image ........................................................................................................ 3

2.3

Unilevers Mission ............................................................................................................ 3

The Proposal ............................................................................................................................ 3

3.1

Outline .............................................................................................................................. 3

3.2

Location ............................................................................................................................ 4

3.3

The Event .......................................................................................................................... 4

3.4

The Effects ........................................................................................................................ 4

3.4.1

Financial Effects ........................................................................................................ 5

3.4.2

Population Effects ..................................................................................................... 5

Budget and Volunteers ............................................................................................................ 5

4.1

Volunteers ........................................................................................................................ 5

4.1.1

Stylists ....................................................................................................................... 5

4.1.2

Regular Volunteers ................................................................................................... 5

4.2

Budget for Project ............................................................................................................ 6

5.

Release of Liability Form.......................................................................................................... 7

6.

Authorization Form.................................................................................................................. 8

7.

Targeted Questions and Answers ............................................................................................ 9

8.

References ............................................................................................................................. 10

Page 1 of 10

1. Introduction
1.1

Objective of Proposal

In the entry intended for the Business Gives Back Competition, the Project Management
Team for Unilever has designed a plan to offer a solution to the Dallas Chamber of
Commerce concerning homelessness in Dallas. The proposal consists of an event that will
aid the homeless in obtaining work through improving their image which will have
substantial positive effects on the homeless contributing back to the Dallas community.

1.2

Why Dallas?

Unilever is devoted to helping people look good, feel good, and get more out of life. In an
effort to help the Dallas community, we strive to improve the lives in the Dallas community
of over 3000 homeless persons.
Unilever believes in the responsibility to the
community and invests in local economies around
the world to develop peoples skills both inside and
outside of Unilever, we want to promote hygiene,
nutrition, empowerment and environmental
awareness through sustainability.

1.3

The Effects of the Proposal

With the undertaking of this event, Unilever can help to alleviate the homeless problem in
the Dallas community. This outreach will bring the escalating number of homeless persons
down to a more sustainable level.
In addition to decreasing the number of homeless persons, this will prove advantageous as
those who find jobs are able to give back to the community. It will also benefit the shelters,
freeing up time and space to make improvements and repairs. Stylists will benefit as well,
making a name for themselves within the community.

1.4

Summation of Proposal

Unilever has created an event to solve the problem of homelessness in Dallas as well as the
financial and social toll it takes on the community. This plan will work towards improving
the image and self-esteem of the homeless, empowering them to seek employment,
enabling them to fare better on interviews and to obtain jobs leading to a more sustainable
lifestyle. This would help the Dallas community both financially and socially.

2. Background
In 2013, the number of homeless in the Dallas community was 2,972. By 2014, that number
grew to 3,314 according the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliances annual report in the Dallas
Morning News. Of these homeless persons, only 22% were employed. That leaves 78%
without jobs or ability to live sustainable lives. According to Forbes, people are judged within
7 seconds just on image alone.
Page 2 of 10

2.1

Homelessness

Homelessness is a consequence of two key factors:

1. Inability to work due to disability, medical restrictions or confinement
2. Inability to earn a sustainable income
It costs $15,000 - $40,000 tax dollars a year per homeless person. This is number is only
taken from homeless shelters, not counting jails, hospitals, or psychiatric wards. If other
facilities were counted, then the number could triple.
The main reason homeless populations continue to increase is the lack of programs geared
toward improving the image and skill sets needed to obtain sustainable employment. The
population is steadily increasing as well, causing crowding, leading to less care or concern
to accommodate the homeless.

2.2

Importance of Image

Studies have shown that we are judged on appearances. Forbes reported that in just 7
seconds those judgements are made, before a person even speaks. This is incredibly
important for interviews. You cannot show who you are in just 7 seconds. In this short
amount of time, you are judged based on how you look and present yourself, and it is
extremely difficult for the homeless to look professional.

2.3

Unilevers Mission

Our mission is to help communities build better self-esteem through improving image and
hygiene with our product associations. We strive for a more sustainable lifestyle globally.

3. The Proposal
3.1

Outline

Unilever will be hosting The New Look which will be located at Family Gateway which is a
homeless shelter located in the heart of Dallas. For this event, we will have stylists from
all over the DFW Metroplex to come in and donate their time and efforts into making our
project be successful. The event will be on April 29th from 1:00 P.M. 4:00 P.M. The time
of the event is crucial because it is close to lunch meaning traffic at the homeless shelter
would be at its peak. We will also be utilizing volunteers for helping clean after all the
haircuts.

Page 3 of 10

3.2

Location

We are hosting the event at Family Gateway because it is

an already established homeless shelter in the heart of
Dallas which will make it easier for the homeless to reach
the location. Because Family Gateway is already known to
the homeless, it will make it easier for us to gain
participants for The New Look.

3.3

The Event

11:00 AM 1:00 PM
1:00 PM 4:00 PM
4:00 PM 5:00 PM

3.4

Set-up / Gain participants

Haircuts
Cleanup

The Effects

The beauty in this idea is its simplicity. At the end of the day, we are giving people
haircuts, but these haircuts can potentially change their lives. Having not given a chance
to groom themselves in quite a while, these haircuts will help the homeless by giving
better opportunities for employment, and in the long run, keep them off the streets.

Before
The picture above shows a homeless man who
has not been taking care of his appearances.
His hair on top is disorganized, and his facial
hair is scruffy and unappealing. Overall, he
looks unprofessional.

After
This shows the man after the haircut. His hair
on top is combed over to the side. His facial
hair is gone, and he even has a smile on his
face. Now he looks professional and has
potential to land a job.

Unprofessional to professional with just a simple haircut.

Page 4 of 10

3.4.1 Financial Effects

Using the numbers from the Background (2.1 Homelessness), it costs about $25,000 of
tax dollars a year per homeless person to keep the homeless in their current situation.
With the number of homeless we have in Dallas, this is about $75,000,000.
We are aiming for about 30 - 50 haircuts from this event, and if the event were successful
and to continue long-term with the event being twice a month, we would average about
960 haircuts a year. Aiming for a 25%
success rate from our event, we will be
helping about 250 homeless people
$6,000,000 savings a year
acquire jobs. In the long-run, using the
numbers from the Background (2), we are
in taxpayers dollars!
saving about $6,000,000 a year in
taxpayers money by performing this
event.
3.4.2 Population Effects
Keeping the homeless off the streets is our number one priority through this event. If it
were to be successful, we will be dwindling down the number of homeless people in Dallas
by an expected rate of 240 per year.

4. Budget and Volunteers

4.1

Volunteers

The New Look project would need a minimum of eight volunteers and two Unilever staff
to overlook each event. From the eight volunteers we need a maximum of five to be
certified stylists since we want to provide professional looking haircuts, the rest of the
volunteers would be there to assist the stylists get everything ready for the event,
providing and sanitizing tools as well as helping with the overall event.
4.1.1 Stylists
Professional stylist would be needed to provide professional looking haircuts. These stylist
would be reached by:
Word of mouth: Promoting the event, goals and idea in salons, reaching the
stylists personally. Explaining how much they would be giving back to the
community and how they would be helping other become productive members of
society, but mainly focusing on how by giving homeless people haircuts they are
impacting/changing their lives.
Volunteer websites: By posting our open slots on volunteermatch.org and
volunteernorthtexas.org, which are free websites, we could reach stylists that are
looking forward to help organization give back.
4.1.2 Regular Volunteers
Volunteers that are not professional stylist would also be needed, since we would need
help sanitizing, cleaning utensils and helping prepare the people for their haircuts, set up
Page 5 of 10

the booths as well as picking up after the event is over. These volunteers are as important
as the stylists, since we would also encourage them to talk to the homeless and explain
what the project is about, how we are reaching our goal, why we want to give back to
society and what is in for them if they are willing to get a haircut at our salon.
Just like the stylists, these volunteers would be reach by volunteer websites, since this
method will help us reach a broader range of people. As an incentive and thank you for
volunteering gift at the end of each event we would be giving goodie bags with Unilever
products.
Just like the stylists, these volunteers would be reach by volunteer websites, since this
method will help us reach a broader range of people.

4.2

Budget for Project

The budget for this Project is of $15,171.25, from which $9,500.00 will be donated by
Unilever in products. This Budget covers utensils that hair stylists will use, products used and
given to volunteers and participants as well as sanitizing products for the tools. All of the
tools are scheduled to be bought in larger amount in order to prevent shortage of tools while
in an event. The chairs purchase would be installed at the homeless shelter to prevent
damage while transporting the chairs before and after every event.

Page 6 of 10

5. Release of Liability Form

RELEASE AND WAIVER OF LIABILITY
Unilever The New Look
Please read carefully.
This is a legal document that affects your legal rights. For the purposes of this agreement Unilever refers
to both Unilever and The New Look. Volunteer refers to the individual volunteering with Unilever and the
Volunteers parent or guardian if the volunteer is less than 18 years of age. The Volunteer named above
desires to work as a volunteer for Unilever, a nonprofit corporation and engage in the activities related to
being a volunteer. These may include sanitizing tools, clean tools, or preparing people for haircuts. The
Volunteer freely, voluntarily, and without duress executes this Release under the following terms:
RELEASE AND WAIVER: The Volunteer releases and forever discharges and holds harmless Unilever and
its successors and assigns from any and all liability or claims that the Volunteer (or the Volunteers heirs
or assigns) may have against Unilever with respect to any bodily injury, personal injury, illness, death, or
property damage that may result from Volunteers activities with Unilever. THE VOLUNTEER
UNDERSTANDS AND ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THE CLAIMS BEING RELEASED HEREIN INCLUDE, WITHOUT
LIMITATION, CLAIMS, IF ANY, BASED ON OR IN ANYWAY RELATED TO THE NEGLIGENCE OR GROSS
NEGLIGENCE OF UNILEVER OR ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTOR, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS. The Volunteer also
understands that Unilever does not assume any responsibility for or obligation to provide financial
assistance or other assistance, including but not limited to medical, health, or disability insurance in the
event of injury or illness. The Volunteer releases and forever discharges Unilever from any claim
whatsoever which arises or may hereafter arise on account of any first aid, treatment, or service rendered
in collection with the Volunteers activities with Unilever.
ASSUMPTION OF RISK: The Volunteer understands that activities may be hazardous to the volunteer. The
Volunteer expressly and specifically assume the risk of injury or harm in these activities. Insurance:
Although Unilever, The New Look carries medical insurance for volunteer injuries, each volunteer is
expected and encouraged to obtain his or her own medical or health insurance coverage. Photographic
Release: Volunteer grants and conveys to Habitat all right, title, and interest in any and all photographic
images and video or audio recordings made by Unilever during the Volunteers activities with Unilever,
including, but not limited to, any royalties, proceeds, or other benefits derived from such photographs or
recordings. Texas Law: Volunteer expressly agrees that this Release and Waiver of Liability is intended to
be as broad and inclusive as permitted by the laws of the State of Texas and that it shall be governed and
interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas. Furthermore, Volunteer expressly agrees
that if any one or more of the provisions contained in this Release and Waiver of Liability are held to be
invalid, the invalidity of such clause or provision shall not otherwise affect the remaining provisions of this
Waiver and Release of Liability, which shall otherwise continue to be enforceable.
Name of Emergency Contact: _______________________________
Relationship to Volunteer: _________________ Emergency Contact Phone Number: ________________
Allergies to medication or other special needs: ________________________________________
Volunteer Signature: __________________________________Date:___________________________

Page 7 of 10

6. Authorization Form
Please authorize initiation of The New Look project with the form below.
Authorization
The Dallas Chamber of commerce hereby authorizes Unilever to initiate The New Look project,
as presented in April 2015. The Chamber of Commerce also agrees to remit funding for the
project by August 1st, 2015.

Notarized Authorization Signatures

Dallas Chamber of Commerce

Printed Name

Signature

Date

Signature

Date

Signature

Date

Signature

Date

Unilever

Patrick Tran

Monica Canales

Suzanne Okpara

Page 8 of 10

7. Targeted Questions and Answers

How will Unilever help the homeless become employed?
For the most part, employment will be up to those that are getting haircuts. Hopefully,
just by getting a haircut, the homeless will take the initiative to reach for the interview
that could potentially turn into a job.
Unilever might also work with those getting haircuts with helping them find jobs. This
will only be if The New Look is an ongoing project.

What if we have some people return for haircuts?

That shouldnt be a problem! Hopefully we wont be seeing the same people getting
haircuts because that would mean that they are getting jobs, but if it does turn out
were giving someone multiple haircuts, well help them out as much as we can using
Unilevers connections.

How do we measure the success of the project?

The success of the project will be based on how many haircuts we can give during The
New Look and how many participants gain interviews.

Does getting a haircut equal getting a home?

The purpose of giving haircuts is to help the homeless become employed. While it does
not necessarily equal a home, we hope that after being employed for so long the
homeless will eventually obtain a home.

What is the incentive for stylists to volunteer at the event?

We feel that it is difficult for hair stylists to market themselves in the hair industry. The
only way you are known is through word of mouth by friends, and even then, this is not
enough. By giving the opportunity for stylists to market themselves through this event,
we are helping them gain more business in the long-run.

Page 9 of 10

8. References
Economic Development Headquarters. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.
Family Gateway. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2015
Hobbs, T. (2014, July 5). Ex-teacher, a crack addict, shows how Dallas County's 'most expensive'
homeless live. Retrieved April 9, 2015
Nicholson, E. (2014, February 5). Dallas Police Are Now Rounding Up Homeless People for
'Sleeping in Public' Downtown. Retrieved April 9, 2015
Puckett, J. (2015, March 16). New Documentary Shows Cost of Homelessness in Lubbock.
Retrieved April 9, 2015
RELEASE AND WAIVER OF LIABILITY. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2015.
Tsiaperas, T. (2014, August 28). Number of chronically homeless in Dallas County drops. Retrieved
April 9, 2015.
Wikimedia Upload. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.
"Hair Tools & Hair Products From Sally Beauty Supply." Sally Beauty Supply. N.p., n.d. Web.
9 Apr. 2015.
"Hair Tools & Hair Products From Sally Beauty Supply." Sally Beauty Supply. N.p., n.d. Web.
9 Apr. 2015. Unilever.

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