For tattoo Removal
L.A.
Ministry would provide free tattoo removals for kids
By Tim Woods
Tribune-Herald staff writer
Did you ever make a decision that you later regretted?
Most people have. Even a decision as seemingly benign as getting a tattoo can come back to haunt some.
Two local women are working to help people overcome such regrettable decisions and erase them.
Jeanne Arensman and Jennie Kunkel, of Mart and Waco, respectively, are raising money to purchase tattoo-removal equipment as part of what they are calling the St. Dismas Tattoo Removal Ministry.
The ministry would provide youths, many coming out of Texas Youth Commission facilities, with the opportunity to have tattoos removed for free. Specifically targeted are tattoos that associate children with gangs they may want to distance themselves from after their releases, Arensman said.
St. Dismas was one of the two thieves crucified alongside Christ and is the patron saint of criminals, death row inmates, funeral directors and reformed thieves.
Arensman, who started volunteering at the TYC facility in Mart three years ago, said the removals would be free for people younger than 21, and “once we get rolling, those over 21 we can charge a fee of $50 per session, which is still a great bargain.”
How it all began
The impetus came after Arensman heard heartbreaking stories about two young men who wanted to disassociate themselves from their gangs and were unable to, partly because of their tattoos.
“I personally know of two young men who went back to Waco from the Mart facility with gang tattoos (and) wanted to break free from the gangs,” Arensman said. “But once you’re in a gang, they think you’re gang property, and (the two young men) ended up getting killed.”
The St. Dismas ministry will be patterned after a successful tattoo-removal program in Austin. Jeanette Burke directs the Central Texas Tattoo Removal Program, now in its sixth year. She said the Austin program has served people as young as 13, up to a man in his 60s who cried when a tattoo he got as a teenager in the U.S. Navy was removed.
Like the St. Dismas ministry, the Central Texas Tattoo Removal Program relies on donations.
“The money comes in and we spend the money to get more supplies and there always seems to be enough for everybody,” Burke said.
While Arensman and Kunkel are eager to get started with their ministry, the pair still have a long way to go. The tattoo-removal equipment costs about $8,200, and Arensman said they have raised half of that amount. Most of the money has been from small, private donations.
The two may have found an unlikely ally in Zac Colbert, owner of Southern Culture Kustom Tattooz in Waco.
Colbert has been tattooing for 11 years and said he would be willing to help the St. Dismas ministry raise money. While he obviously endorses body art, Colbert said gang-related and homemade tattoos tend to give the industry a bad name.
“We do a lot of coverups, and, mainly, it’s because they’ll get it done in somebody’s kitchen and end up with something they’re not so happy about,” he said. “Even though we’re in the business of tattooing, we still don’t like to see that nasty stuff, like the gang members running around with their gang tattoos.”
twoods@wacotrib.com
