Second life of a Muni Bus: Mobile Shower for Homeless in San Francisco
How did you enjoy your last shower? Did you even think about it? But for a homeless getting clean is the challenge.
We met at a historic The Women’s Building, in the heart of Mission District in San Francisco. “It was a first true coworking space for women-led businesses in San Francisco”, said Doniece Sandoval, a beautiful, youthful looking woman who, as we were pleasantly surprised, was a founder of Lava Mae, a unique non-profit that takes on a challenge of tackling a problem of hygiene for homeless in San Francisco.
We met with Doniece and a community engagement manager of Lava Mae Leah Filler and saw a lot of passion for the cause and determination to see their vision of mobile showers to become a reality for thousands of homeless people around the world. Two women who have never experienced homelessness, never worked with homeless, exuded such a confidence that they would be able to make a difference, we knew right away that we would love to be a part of it!
In our short meeting we’ve learned a lot about shortage of showers in the city that has about 6500 of homeless people, with half of them living on the street. In fact, there are only 8 facilities, with two showers in each, opening their doors Monday through Friday in San Francisco right now, serving more than 3000 people. We also have learned that San Francisco is the city where people do care and are willing to help. Partnerships with various organizations is the key for Lava Mae to become a success. Gooddler’s platform is a perfect solution for Lava Mae’s desire to provide homeless with essential items such as special body lotions that will help with extremely dry skin, socks, underwear, basic care kits, and more. We believe that making it easy for supporters to purchase specific items that will be given to those in need will help Lava Mae’s operations to have an even bigger impact.
Doniece and Leah talked about their goal of seeing 4 Lava Mae busses servicing all parts of San Francisco 7 days a week in a nearest future. Let’s help them to make it a reality. There are many ways you can help, from volunteering your time or money, to purchasing specific items from their wishlist on Gooddler.
