Mobile Showers

Volunteering for a good cause - helping on a Lava Mae bus.

Can you imagine what life would be like without having access to shower facilities? Add in a streak of such bad luck and hard times that you become homeless and you've got a ticket to this world. In San Francisco alone, there are approximately 3,500 homeless people living on the streets, with only 16 showers available to them. If you're homeless, you have to know where those are located, and that's not always easy when you don't have access to modern technology.

Enter a group of people concerned about this lack of basic sanitation. Doniece Sandoval was so concerned that she became the founder and PR person for LAVA MAE, an organization that provides mobile shower units. As she says, "The issue of access threatens people's humanity and dignity and limits their ability to move out of homelessness. At Lava Mae we believe that everyone has the right to be clean. After all, if gourmet food can be put on wheels and taken anywhere, why not showers and toilets?"



In San Francisco, people without homes and living on the streets are scattered throughout the city. The permanent shower facilities already available, usually within homeless shelters, are clustered in a small area near the Civic Center, with only one outlying facility. By going mobile, Lava Mae showers are able to serve a much larger area.

So how was this project accomplished? According to Ms. Sandoval, the group found out that MUNI, San Francisco's bus service, was replacing their diesel buses and the idea came that those buses might be the key to serving the purpose. It took a great deal of brainstorming and technical knowledge and skill to put together the scheme to operate two showers on one bus. The hookup was planned as the neighborhood fire hydrant. And the biggest challenge was that no other group had attempted to do this before, so Lava Mae was breaking new ground.

But Lava Mae did their job in style. Besides the shower, it includes a sink and toilet. There is a changing area - and all done with privacy needs in mind. Lava Mae has partnered with some homeless shelters which don't have shower facilities in order to determine the best way to serve the homeless. The first bus went into operation this Spring.

The Lava Mae bus at a stop.

While the organization is aware that mobile showers aren't able to solve the issue of homelessness, it does provide a vital service. As they say in their mission statement, they want "To deliver dignity and unlock opportunity for those experiencing homelessness - one mobile shower at a time." As those of us who have a permanent residence realize, it's impossible to get a job without having clean clothes and a clean body. And an opportunity to get refreshed with a shower and toileting facilities adds a sense of confidence and well-being that any person deserves.

Being able to get a shower on a Lava Mae bus can sure make a man feel good.

Thanks to this article from Pollination Project: https://thepollinationproject.org/grants-awarded/doniece-sandoval-lava-mae/.

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