Our Homeless Crisis: Woman behind showers on wheels talks homelessness and hygiene

One of the biggest needs among Portland's homeless community is also one of the simplest: Showers.

Getting clean is a huge challenge for people living on the streets, because few nonprofit organizations and service providers have showers, and those that do are either communal shower space or in such limited demand that there's usually a long wait.

In San Francisco, a city with a far larger homeless population, the nonprofit Lava Mae has found a unique solution to the shower problem: Eighteen months ago, Doniece Sandoval bought an old city bus and turned it into a mobile bathroom on wheels. Since then, her organization has grown to include three buses and provided tens of thousands of showers.

The Oregonian/OregonLive spoke with Sandoval this week about what her group does and what other communities can learn. The conversation has been edited for space and clarity.

To start, explain where this idea came from and how it works.

What we see here in San Francisco, is that because there's such a dearth of showers, people are having to use bathroom sinks, or having to travel long distances to the agencies that do have them. That may just sound like an inconvenience but it can actually be a real obstacle. Eighty percent of the homeless population is only temporarily homeless. If they're applying for jobs or housing, being clean is part of making sure people talk to you and take you seriously.

When I found out about the lack of showers, it was at a time when I had a crazy obsession with mobile food. I thought they're taking gourmet food all over, there are all these trucks on wheels, maybe there's something else we can do with that kind of mobility.

She explored using old horse trailers, or just buying commercial shower trailers. Then she saw an article in a San Francisco paper about the city receiving federal money to buy new, more fuel-efficient buses.

I didn't know if people would be willing to get on a bus to use the bathroom and take a shower. It was only a matter of days before we knew it was a good idea. We worked really hard to make them beautiful. The service is critical, but the way we deliver our service is equally important. We talk about providing hospitality as much as showers. We've designed something beautiful. We try to know their names; we know their stories.

It's really about seeing the whole person and recognizing their humanity. A homeless person is the same as you or me. Most of us are just one or two paycheck away from this.

It cost $75,000 to convert a bus and another $155,000 or so for a year of staffing, parking, water, insurance and gasoline, among other costs.

We tried doing one person on the bus, that was a disaster. You need two staff people with the bus at all time.

We didn't buy our buses. Cities have the authority to donate buses. When they're decommissioning them to upgrade, they either sell them at auction or they donate them. Most cities would prefer to donate. It's less work.

She actually recommends other groups interested in replicating the concept think about buying commercial shower trailers instead of retro-fitting buses. They cost lost and provide more flexibility.

You can buy one, buy a truck to haul it, and you're on your way. What we've found here is that with the onslaught of tech shuttles, it's really hard for us to find drivers. They pay $36 an hour. We can't compete with that. If I could drive a truck and pull a commercial shower trailer around, that would have significant advantages. I love the way we're doing it, but if I'm giving advice to someone who wanted to provide this kind of service, that would be one thing for them to think about. The buses are cool and they attract a good kind of attention, but they're not necessarily your quickest, least expensive option.

Why are showers important?

Think about a time when you haven't had a shower. Maybe you were sick or you went hiking. Think about that first moment when the water is pouring over you. It's transformative. When you're having a bad day, it washes all that away. It's very tangible. When you're dirty, your self esteem is diminished, people scorn you, it's completely detrimental to your ability to move forward.

It's psychological, but it's also practical. If you're trying to find an apartment and you look dirty or you smell bad, you're going to have a much harder time.

One of the selling points of Lava Mae's buses is that they offer homeless men and women private bathrooms, something in short supply among the shelters, soup kitchens and other agencies that serve people living outdoors. So far, there have been few cases of people abusing that privacy.

Our buses just have two bathrooms, they're totally private, and that's intentional. If you're a woman or a member of the LBGTQ community, the incidents of attacks in showers are high, and we wanted to assure safety. And if you're homeless, you spend your entire life in the public eye. There's really no where you can go to get privacy. We wanted to recognize the need for privacy.

Our guests are so appreciative of that, and they show a level of deep respect for what we're doing. In the 18 months we've been operating, we've had one incident where someone left drug paraphernalia behind.

Guests are asked to shoot for 10 to 15 minutes in the bathroom, though those with disabilities or children are given some leeway on timing. The buses park near other service providers and guests sign up for appointments.

We come and get them for their appointments. They're given a towel, and we have all the toiletries on board that they might need. We'll walk them through these fancy electrical showers if it's their first visit. When they leave, we'll give them toiletries to take, socks if we have them, hats if it's cold and we have them. Then they go on their way. Sixty percent of our users are repeat users, so I think it's working.

Lava Mae will soon add a fourth bus in San Francisco, and Sandoval plans a pilot project in San Jose and to help an affiliate launch a similar service in Los Angeles. By the end of 2020, she expects to have served 30,000 people experiencing homelessness.

I don't know if you've been to San Francisco recently, but the visibility of the homeless population here has exploded. The homeless count hasn't shown a huge increase in numbers, but those are imperfect. We have tension in this city with the mass gentrification that's happening, the fact that here eviction is the most common cause of homelessness the last two years running, this Super Bowl coming with people being kicked out of neighborhoods where they're anticipating tourists. There are neighborhoods now where you can literally see 80 tents lined up. I feel like we're in the Great Depression in this city.

(503) 412-7053; @annargriff