Street to Street: Mobile Showers for Dignity & Relief

Affordable housing and homelessness

County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit)

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

Our program seeks to combat hygiene insecurity, health disparities, and food insecurity by providing water access and hot meals to homeless individuals and families. Many people living in cars, broken RVs, parks, or on benches face severe challenges due to their inability to maintain proper hygiene. Without access to water, infections go untreated, worsening health disparities. Tragic cases, like Joe’s, highlight the urgency—he lost his life because he avoided medical care, allowing an infection to spread until it was too late.
Mobile showers provide a critical solution, allowing individuals to maintain cleanliness, reduce infections, and restore dignity. Cleanliness improves confidence, opens doors to employment, and strengthens mental health. After five years of outreach and donating over 70,000 hygiene products, surveys show that 98% of respondents support this initiative. Families bathing from fire hydrants and children going without water illustrate why this program is needed now.

Street to Street: Mobile Showers for Dignity & Relief Program will provide essential hygiene access and hot meals to homeless individuals and families across Los Angeles County. With 2,508 deaths among unhoused individuals in 2023 alone and an alarming 6.9 lives lost daily, this initiative directly addresses hygiene insecurity and public health risks. Operating from an RV equipped with mobile showers, hygiene products, towels, and a kitchen for meal preparation, the program ensures cleanliness and proper nourishment.
Poor hygiene can contribute to the spread of bacteria, infections, and airborne pollutants, worsening health conditions for both unhoused individuals and the broader community. Drug overdoses remain the leading cause of death, with 70% involving fentanyl, highlighting the urgent need for comprehensive health interventions.
Beyond immediate relief, the program prioritizes education, teaching preventative measures against viruses like COVID-19, bacteria, infections, and STDs. Unlike traditional shelter-based hygiene programs, this mobile initiative brings essential care directly to unhoused individuals in their communities, increasing accessibility and impact. By fostering dignity and promoting community health, our mission is to reduce illness, prevent unnecessary deaths, and create a sustainable, supportive environment for those living on the streets.

In the short term, we will provide hygiene access and hot meals to 500 unhoused individuals, offering immediate relief while reducing preventable daily deaths and connecting participants to vital services like shelters and healthcare.
Bri, an immigrant from Belize, faced hygiene insecurity and unstable housing while attending Los Angeles City College with her 9-month-old son. Through our program, she received essential resources, but a mobile unit would have provided a safe space to complete schoolwork, eat, and care for her child without uncertainty.
In the long term, we will expand beyond Los Angeles County, reaching the Bay Area and cities like Palmdale, where rent inflation has driven high homelessness rates. By scaling services and partnering with health providers, colleges, and shelters, we will create a sustainable model that transforms homelessness support, providing dignity, stability, and relief to 500+ individuals annually.