US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Charlie J. Franta III has officially opened Foreign Exchange, a barbershop in Diego Martin for formerly incarcerated individuals. 

In a release Thursday, it was announced the barbershop was opened with the financial support of the US Embassy and "increases citizen security by equipping formerly incarcerated individuals with marketable skills, helping them secure stable employment and reducing the risk of recidivism."

The US Embassy partnered with the non-profit Incarceration Nations Network (INN) and the Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service to establish the barbershop. The embassy invested US$18,000 to fund barbering courses for 15 youths incarcerated at the Youth Training and Rehabilitation Centre (YTRC), and 10 formerly incarcerated adults, and to provide essential equipment and supplies, the release explained.