Gang tattoos, white supremacist symbols and prison ink are some of what the new Ink Free B.C. Initiative Society is offering to remove for free in order to help individuals leave behind painful past associations.
Ink Free B.C. Initiative Society was started this past August by Amanda Chinn, owner of Almost Famous Laser Corp, a downtown Nanaimo laser clinic offering hair removal, scar reduction and tattoo removal.
"To see people be able to reintegrate and want to influence others, I think there's so much power to that," she said, "and I have a service I can provide and help people to do that."
Chinn said she was inspired by Removery's Ink-nitiative Program, which similarly removes, for free or at low cost, tattoos that depict subject matter related to gangs or hate groups.
"But their initiative doesn't go to Vancouver Island so that's when I [thought] there might be an opportunity to reach some individuals in the Vancouver Island community.'"
Under the Ink Free B.C. program, targeted applicants includes individuals facing barriers to employment, reintegration after incarceration and individuals wanting to leave behind painful past associations, including hate groups or being a victim of human trafficking.
The type of tattoos can range from tear drops, neck tattoos, face tattoos or knuckle tattoos, which Chinn said could impact the person's ability to get meaningful employment. The society also offers low-cost tattoo removal for military and first responders, with the funds going back into the society to expand its reach.
"I already have some people booked to remove knuckle tattoos," she said. "Of course it's a new endeavour but we just joined the chamber [of commerce]."
Colin Lamontagne serves as board director of the new non-profit. Lamontagne previously experienced incarceration for manslaughter, aggravated assault, forcible confinement, possession of controlled substances for the purpose of trafficking and possession of a loaded handgun.
He said he wanted to get involved because he has connections with the people who need the help and he understands their struggles and difficulties.
"I've been involved in the recovery movement for about 10 years now and I've come across several individuals who have had facial tattoos or gang tattoos and seen how difficult it is for them to reintegrate into society, to get that second chance," Lamontagne said. "After talking with Mandy, I thought it would be just a wonderful thing for the community and for us to be involved in."
Long-term, Chinn said she would like to see the non-profit expanded to every B.C. community with a penitentiary, through partnering with other laser studios. The benefits to the participating clinics, she said, is tax deductible receipts they can claim.
"We began reaching out to different laser clinics at different areas in B.C. to see if they would partner," Chinn said.
"It is a new endeavour … some clinics are willing to do it just for the taxable donation receipt, doing a treatment on these individuals, but some would do a discounted service, subsidized, where we would cover subsidized and give them a donation receipt."
