In early May, 2024, I was interviewed by Dave Miller on Think Out Loud (a show on Oregon Public Broadcasting) about the Sunnyside Shower Project. Here's a link to the full audio on OPB.
Volunteers for the Sunnyside Shower Project stand in front of the church's main doors
In 2020, Southeast Portland resident Hannah Wallace went out with members of her neighborhood association and asked people living on the streets what they needed most. The two things they heard most? Showers and laundry facilities.
Wallace started the Sunnyside Shower Project in response. The project began at Sunnyside Methodist Church with Wallace and a handful of volunteers offering showers twice a week. It now has dozens of volunteers, and people can come three days a week to get a shower and other resources when available, including free toiletries, laundry cards and help connecting with other services, like the Oregon Health Plan and drug treatment.
Since it began, the Multnomah Village volunteer group Southwest Outreach began their own version at Riversgate Church. In February, a new Shower Project opened at the 13 Salmon shelter at the First Unitarian Church downtown. Kelly Clendenon began volunteering several years ago and helped launch the project with some guidance from Wallace and others. He’s now the Project’s coordinator and says that as a person who lived on the streets for many years, his current work is especially meaningful.
Clendenon and Wallace join us to tell us more about what it takes to run these projects and what difference one shower can make for someone otherwise without access.