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PORTAGE PARK — Jesse Barrera's heart sank as his pulled up to his barbershop in the Six Corners Shopping District on the night of July 3 and saw police cars and a fire engine parked outside.

With the shop open for exactly four months — and packed from morning until night — Barrera, 41, had begun to catch up on bills and was hoping his effort to strike out on his own after cutting hair for eight years would be a success.

But that all changed when Jefferson Park Police District Cmdr. Roger Bay, who was waiting for Barrera to get to the shop at 4851 W. Irving Park Road, told him that two drunken men got into a fistfight in front of his store and smashed into his picture window, sending blood and glass flying everywhere.

"I thought the building was on fire, so at first I was relieved," Barrera said. "But then I called my insurance company, and they told me I wasn't covered for the glass window. I didn't know what I was going to do."

Heather Cherone discusses who helped Jesse the most to repair the glass:

Barrera, a Portage Park resident, said he knew he didn't have enough money to cover the $400 board-up fee or the $2,000 it would cost to replace the window.

"I sank everything I had in the place," said Barrera, who came across a Facebook post about GoFundMe, an online fundraising site, that night and figured he had nothing to lose.

"I thought it was a long shot at best," he recalled.

He posted the plea for help on July 4, and by Sunday — when Barrera remembered to check to see what was happening with it — more than 50 people had donated enough to exceed the $2,000 goal and raise more than $2,700 — exactly what Barrera needed to cover the cost of boarding up the window, replacing the glass and repainting his retro-style sign.

"I was blown away," Barrera said, choking up.

Many of the donations came from other Six Corners businesses, including $200 from Barbara Ries Murphy, of Josi's Frozen Yogurt Cafe, and $100 from Ald. John Arena (45th).

Arena called the success of the online fundraiser "amazing."

"We are looking forward to Jesse's Barber Shop being in the Six Corners family for a very long time," Arena said.

Barrera vowed to return the help if any other Six Corners business finds itself struggling to stay afloat as the district works to regain a measure of its former glory as the premier shopping district outside of the Loop.

"It's us, these little businesses, that will make all the difference," Barrera said. "We're the core of what's to come for Six Corners. This is community, when people step up for one another."

Barrera replaced the window Wednesday — with tempered glass that won't shatter — but not before the store's formerly robust walk-in traffic had dwindled almost to nothing while the front window was boarded up.

"The place looked abandoned," Barrera said. "It made me realize that we were in a very serious situation."

But Barrera is confident customers seeking a close shave or a quick trim in his retro-themed barbershop will come back.

"I think Six Corners is awesome," Barrera said. "I've always loved Six Corners. Two drunk guys going through my window isn't going to change my mind."

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