Waking up and jumping into the shower might be a normal part of your routine, but this isn’t the case for everyone. Having the ability to take a hot shower is readily available for many of us, but it’s a luxury for those who are homeless. 
Paul Schmitz of Spring Hill wanted to change this and created an initiative called Shower Up. Schmitz has worked with the homeless community for many years, serving meals, providing clothing and so on, but he noticed that while many community members and organizations help provide things like clothing, food and temporary shelter to the homeless, showers were not available.
“There are anywhere between 2,000-4,000 homeless men, women and children in the Nashville area at any given time. For those that are living in tents, under bridges, in their cars or otherwise without shelter, they have very limited access to shower facilities. Many will go not only days but weeks without a shower or any kind of personal care. While our first thought might be about some of the physical results of that kind of neglect, the emotional toll is even greater,” says Schmitz.
Having the ability to shower isn’t purely about hygiene, Schmitz says.
“Hope vanishes. Dignity disappears. Despair sets in. Most of us have access to a hot shower whenever we want. It energizes the start to our day, it clears away the grime from a hard day’s work, it’s relaxing and stress-reducing. For those that live on the street, a hot shower is just one more thing that they can’t provide for themselves and it boxes them in. If they are able to get a day-labor job, they will go back to their tent dirty and wake up the next day still dirty. They can’t get a regular job because they just don’t know when they will be clean and presentable again. We want to restore hope and dignity. We want to share love with those who feel marginalized and we want to invite others to join us in this endeavor.”
Watch the video interview below where Schmitz talks with Robert, a homeless man.
Currently, Shower Up is the initial launch phase and is raising money for their first Nashville truck that will be retrofitted into a mobile shower unit.
“Once we are rolling, we will go to various locations around the city to provide encouragement, hope, hot showers, personal care items,” says Schmitz.
Volunteer opportunities will be available for every level and skill set.
Currently, Shower Up has raised over $8,000 of their $48,000 the goal. Those interested in helping fund Shower Up can visit their Facebook page to donate.
In addition to financial support, Shower Up will be looking to the community for volunteers and to collect personal care items that will create kits to be given to those who will be using the showers.
