SLO nonprofit celebrates 5 years of free showers for homeless people: ‘It just feels good’
For the past five years, Hope’s Village of SLO has been helping the homeless community in the city feel good about themselves.
This year, the nonprofit organization is celebrating the fifth anniversary of its free mobile shower program, held on Saturday mornings.
Every week, between 9 a.m. and noon, dozens of unhoused people come to United Church of Christ — located at 11245 Los Osos Valley Road in San Luis Obispo, next to Laguna Lake Golf Course — to get clean and greet friends and volunteers.
Participants at the so-called “pop-up care center” can also stop by the church’s parking lot to pick up donated food, clothing, tents and tarps. Volunteers offer haircuts as well as medical and mental health services.
“I’ve been coming here a couple of years,” said 41-year-old Ian Farrell, who sometimes stays in his girlfriend’s vehicle after becoming homeless a few years ago. “They have good coffee here. It’s kind of my ritual. I don’t want to go to long without a shower.”
Nonprofit offers free showers for homeless people
Becky Jorgeson, founder of Hope’s Village, said the mobile shower program launched with a $25,000 donation from French Hospital Medical Center.
She covered the rest of the $37,000 cost of the program through fundraising, buying the mobile shower unit from a company on the East Coast.
According to Jorgeson, she, Hope’s Village volunteer Tim Waag and his neighborhood probably worked for a year to set the program up.
On the first day — Sept. 5, 2016— “we had six people show up,” Jorgeson said. “Today we can give anywhere up to 52 showers. We give showers every single Saturday rain or shine. It just works. (It’s) a smooth operation.”
“When people come, they sign up. We have a big whiteboard so people can always know where their name is,” Jorgeson said. “They get a hot private shower. They get used clean clothing and shoes.”
Each person can shower for about 10 to 15 minutes at a time, with one wing of the unit available for those who are disabled. Couples are allowed in to help each other.
The water from the mobile shower unit’s graywater tank can be released into the shrubs because the program uses biodegradable soap. In addition, Hope’s Village uses a blackwater tank that Harvey’s Honey Huts from Cambria comes to pick up for disposal every week for free.
“We have 30 some partners,” Jorgeson said. “We have Fat Cats in Avila Beach that orders us food. Once a month we have Paul’s Dry Cleaners come clean all of our towels for free, and they’ll clean clothing too.”
Carly Creath, a formerly homeless woman who volunteers with Hope’s Village, serves as the program’s greeter and knows all the regular participants. The program has 21 volunteers in total.
Professional volunteers include a registered nurse who comes to help people with wound care, managing diabetes and other health issues.
People who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol are not allowed to participate in the program.
In addition, those who use the mobile shower service must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Coronavirus vaccine shots have been offered on site.
The Hope’s Village program is one of three free shower programs currently offered at locations around San Luis Obispo.
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, located at 2201 Lawton Ave. near Meadow Park, offers mobile showers on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The San Luis Obispo City/County Library at 995 Palm St. offers mobile shower service from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Sundays, via its partnership with local nonprofit group Shower the People.
How do showers help homeless people?
“Grandpa” Gary Perez helps his girlfriend, Susan McMiller, use the Hope’s Village shower unit.
McMiller said she has a progressive cerebrovascular disorder called moyamoya that caused two strokes and two intracranial bypasses. It also limits her movement, so Perez, who has 13 grandchildren and worked as a caregiver, lends her a hand when bathing.
The couple, who met on the streets, alternates between using Hope’s Village services and taking showers in motels when they can rely on disability compensation to afford rooms. But their money from disruns out toward the end of the month.
“We can’t go longer than a week without a shower,” McMiller said. “Everyone here is very friendly and very helpful. I like that there’s clothing here. They gave me a sweatshirt today that’s so warm. I will sleep in this tonight. It has been very cold.”
McMiller said she and Perez, who have a van, recently obtained a housing voucher and are waiting to move in.
“I’m still going to be cooking at home, and bringing food here on Saturdays to help feed people,” McMiller said.
Another homeless man, Ron Smith, smiled after mingling with friends in the parking lot. He said he comes often to the mobile pop-up.
“The water is warm and it just feels pretty good,” said Smith, who was toting a backpack. “I like getting clean.”
Creath said the site is a “safe environment for people to see each other and take care of hygiene.”
“When (homeless people) are out in the field or wherever they live, they’re fighting, they’re arguing, they’re stealing from each other and setting each other’s tents on fire,” Jorgeson said. “But when they come to showers they can relax because nobody’s asking anything of them ...”
The participants also help set up the mobile shower unit, she said. “Most of them we don’t have to ask. They just do it.”
Hope’s Village offers services for unhoused community
For several years, Hope’s Village has worked to line up a location for a tiny home village, which will require a donation of land and approval from a government jurisdiction to move forward.
That remains a goal for the nonprofit, which aims to offer people privacy and roofs over their heads.
“Some people will never be able to hold a job or pay rent, and I can’t get them into services,” Jorgeson said. “These are the exact people who belong in a tiny house, where there also could be laundry services on site and meals.”
Jorgeson said that tiny houses could be a solution to help the local homeless population. Similar villages exist in Los Angeles.
In addition to its mobile shower program, Hope’s Village has offered vans to veterans and women and helped people going through tough times get motel rooms.
The group has nine outreach advocates who interact with people living on the streets, telling them about local services and providing them with tarps, clothing and more.
“We really want to get more vehicles,” Jorgeson said. “We have a brand new program called Women on Wheels. We’re buying and trying to get vans donated so women can sleep in them at night so there are so they’re safe. ... We want to help people and offer them dignity.”
For more information about Hope’s Village of SLO go to hopesvillageofslo.com.
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