“If they can only afford a dollar, we charge them a dollar. “We never turn anyone away, but we do want them to pay,” says Runciman. Through the Tattoo Removal Program, each session costs only $20, and even that fee is negotiable. “The tattoos are holding them back.”īut with tattoo removal running $200 or more per session-and most tattoos requiring numerous sessions for complete removal, sometimes over several years-the cost is prohibitive for many. “Either their lives have changed or they are in the process of redirecting their lives,” says María Ascensión Runciman, a licensed clinical social worker and program director. Others got tattooed as misguided youth, and later find they can’t get a job because of visible markings on their bodies. Many others are walking away from a past of drugs, crime or prison. Magid’s first tattoo removal patient, seventy-five percent of participants are former gang members. Eight doctors donate their time to the program, most volunteering once or twice a month. In addition to tattoo removal, they offer immigration, counseling and family supportive services. Today, the program is run through a partnership between Dominican Hospital and Catholic Charities Diocese of Monterey County. Since then, thousands of people have had their tattoos removed through the program. With the support of Dominican Hospital, they bought their first laser in 1997 and the Tattoo Removal Program began. Word got around, and Lynn Miller from Santa Cruz’ Youth Resource Bank and the (late) Judge Tom Black contacted him to start an official program.
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Magid started cutting tattoos out of people’s skin-often during his lunch break. When he began practicing in Santa Cruz 25 years ago, Dr. He’s come here directly after work at his day job as a local dermatologist. He’s sitting in the treatment room of the Tattoo Removal Clinic in Santa Cruz, where he volunteers his time as clinical director, using his skills to help people start a clean slate. Magid, who has been doing the right thing ever since. His professor answered, “Because it’s the right thing to do.”