Sacramento Hair Salon Owner Says Homeless Crisis Is Forcing Her Out Of Town

[Bill]

I have a friend that feeds the homeless almost every Saturday-the Church group goes every Sat, rain or shine, holiday whatever & she posted this on FB....

What do you guys think about what this guy is doing??

Man Turns Old Truck Into Mobile Shower For Homeless People To Get Clean, Warm And Keep Their Dignity

After having firsthand experience with the difficulties in life while being homeless, Jake Austin decided to make a difference for many of the struggling human beings he saw around his city of St. Louis, Missouri. He saw that one of the biggest discomforts his local homeless men and women faced was that they could not get a shower, sometimes for months at a time. So he set off to change that with a mobile shower on wheels project he calls Shower to the People.

Austin bought a truck on Craigslist for $5,000 and then setup a GoFundMe online to raise money for the remodel to install clean, portable showers inside of it. He met his goal and was able to create this beautiful truck which now offers showers to roughly 60 people each night.

Some of the grateful homeless were near tears when describing how thankful they were for this opportunity. Being able to have a clean, warm shower, and to shave and use shampoo are things most of us take for granted, but for someone who has nowhere to live or bathe, they can be a real treasure.

The importance of having a shower is something often overlooked when considering the needs of the homeless. Austin, described how “people can get food and clothes, but if they haven’t had a shower in three months, they can’t get a job even flipping burgers.”

“The program isn’t just about getting people clean,” Austin says. “We’re doing this with the hopes of building relationships with people, connecting them with services, and getting them off the streets.”



So far, it’s been effective: Austin says the volunteers have connected several people with transitional living options, and brought others to renew their drivers licenses so they can apply for jobs and benefits.

But the most important part of Austin’s work, is that the homeless people he encounters every day feel genuinely loved and cared for. For someone who has nothing; no family, nowhere to live and no one to help them, the kind hearts of Shower to the People are like rays of sunshine on a cloudy winter.

If your heart was touched by this story of kindness, let it inspire you to share some love and kindness with a person you encounter this week.

You can also donate to support Shower To The People’s cause here.

[Phantasmal]

I have a friend that feeds the homeless almost every Saturday-the Church group goes every Sat, rain or shine, holiday whatever & she posted this on FB....

What do you guys think about what this guy is doing??

Man Turns Old Truck Into Mobile Shower For Homeless People To Get Clean, Warm And Keep Their Dignity

After having firsthand experience with the difficulties in life while being homeless, Jake Austin decided to make a difference for many of the struggling human beings he saw around his city of St. Louis, Missouri. He saw that one of the biggest discomforts his local homeless men and women faced was that they could not get a shower, sometimes for months at a time. So he set off to change that with a mobile shower on wheels project he calls Shower to the People.

Austin bought a truck on Craigslist for $5,000 and then setup a GoFundMe online to raise money for the remodel to install clean, portable showers inside of it. He met his goal and was able to create this beautiful truck which now offers showers to roughly 60 people each night.

Some of the grateful homeless were near tears when describing how thankful they were for this opportunity. Being able to have a clean, warm shower, and to shave and use shampoo are things most of us take for granted, but for someone who has nowhere to live or bathe, they can be a real treasure.

The importance of having a shower is something often overlooked when considering the needs of the homeless. Austin, described how “people can get food and clothes, but if they haven’t had a shower in three months, they can’t get a job even flipping burgers.”

“The program isn’t just about getting people clean,” Austin says. “We’re doing this with the hopes of building relationships with people, connecting them with services, and getting them off the streets.”



So far, it’s been effective: Austin says the volunteers have connected several people with transitional living options, and brought others to renew their drivers licenses so they can apply for jobs and benefits.

But the most important part of Austin’s work, is that the homeless people he encounters every day feel genuinely loved and cared for. For someone who has nothing; no family, nowhere to live and no one to help them, the kind hearts of Shower to the People are like rays of sunshine on a cloudy winter.

If your heart was touched by this story of kindness, let it inspire you to share some love and kindness with a person you encounter this week.

You can also donate to support Shower To The People’s cause here.

That’s is so awesome.

[Bobb]

What's wrong with a hobo shower in a Starbucks restroom?

[Bill]

What's wrong with a hobo shower in a Starbucks restroom?

Have you had one??

Have you had to clean-up after one??

[Bobb]

Have you had one??

Have you had to clean-up after one??

I don't go to Starbucks. But, they've made the corporate decision to allow non-customers to use their facilities, which includes the commitment to clean up after hobo showers.

Can you imagine cleaning up this shower trailer for hobos?

[Bill]

Now the Sacramento river is being polluted by a huge homeless encampment along CALIF BIGGEST RIVER, (which isn't much compared to many states)... Hopeless squatters have been in the area for well over twenty years but the last ten has been an onslaught-leading to this...

E. coli in the river? Sacramento leaders must face reality and install restrooms ((VIDEO))

What do cop calls and E. coli have in common? They should both spur us to act on homelessness.

Investigations by The Sacramento Bee have revealed some unsavory realities about life in a region struggling with a major crisis.

First, we learned that Sacramento police received a high number of calls to the Railroad Drive homeless shelter during the 17 months it was open. We also learned human feces are contributing to unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria in the American River, because authorities won’t provide toilets for the people who live along its banks.

None of this should come as a surprise. Neither should we allow the stark realities faced by the most vulnerable people in our community to deter us from trying to solve the problem. If anything, these stories should bolster our commitment to making our city into a place where people don’t have to live in the streets.

Bringing vulnerable people together under one roof results in a higher concentration of not just people, but their struggles. That means more 911 calls in one place, rather than scattered over a larger area. It means crimes that may have been unreported will get called in. That’s a good thing. It means we’re actually dealing with problems, not hiding them.

Mayor Darrell Steinberg put it well when he said, “There are always going to be calls, but this is a difficult population. I would rather have them under a roof getting help.”

We need low-barrier shelters, and we need them in the communities where homeless people already live.

Besides, low-barrier sheltering is a requirement for state funding, and it ensures we don’t exclude the many who need support. The last Point in Time count estimated there are 5,570 homeless people in Sacramento County, but we probably have more. Most of them live in the city. In 2018, 132 died, a surge from the 71 who died in 2016.

Sacramento’s homeless are overwhelmingly people who simply can’t afford a place to live anymore. For years, local leaders resisted solutions, opting instead for denial and delay. Steinberg has done a lot to shift this mentality, (((IMHO he is a huge part of the problem))) but there’s still much work to do.

Which brings us to the feces-clogged American River.

The river is teeming with unhealthy levels of E. coli bacteria. Human feces contribute to the problem. That’s because, without access to sanitary facilities, homeless people living along the river use it as a toilet.

To be clear: Our leaders won’t let homeless people have toilets, which means that the river where millions of people swim and play every year has become a toilet.

The obvious solution: Install some portable toilets.

Local officials resist this simple and sensible idea because, as they told The Bee, toilets have been destroyed in the past.

Some toilets were trashed, so we must settle for our river becoming a soup of fecal bacteria? Surely, there must be some creative way to address the problem that doesn’t involve throwing our hands up in the air and accepting a major public health hazard as the only possible outcome.

As we finally confront the crisis of homelessness in our community, we must be prepared to come face to face with some hard realities and tough choices.

Will providing shelter for the homeless be simple and uncomplicated? No, but it’s the right thing to do.

Will providing toilets along the river in order to keep the river cleaner be easy and problem free? No, but it’s better for the health and safety of all of us.

We’re in a tough position. If local leaders talk in circles about why they can’t take action, we will never move forward.

Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/edito...#storylink=cpy

[cawacko]

Now the Sacramento river is being polluted by a huge homeless encampment along CALIF BIGGEST RIVER, (which isn't much compared to many states)... Hopeless squatters have been in the area for well over twenty years but the last ten has been an onslaught-leading to this...

E. coli in the river? Sacramento leaders must face reality and install restrooms ((VIDEO))

What do cop calls and E. coli have in common? They should both spur us to act on homelessness.

Investigations by The Sacramento Bee have revealed some unsavory realities about life in a region struggling with a major crisis.

First, we learned that Sacramento police received a high number of calls to the Railroad Drive homeless shelter during the 17 months it was open. We also learned human feces are contributing to unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria in the American River, because authorities won’t provide toilets for the people who live along its banks.

None of this should come as a surprise. Neither should we allow the stark realities faced by the most vulnerable people in our community to deter us from trying to solve the problem. If anything, these stories should bolster our commitment to making our city into a place where people don’t have to live in the streets.

Bringing vulnerable people together under one roof results in a higher concentration of not just people, but their struggles. That means more 911 calls in one place, rather than scattered over a larger area. It means crimes that may have been unreported will get called in. That’s a good thing. It means we’re actually dealing with problems, not hiding them.

Mayor Darrell Steinberg put it well when he said, “There are always going to be calls, but this is a difficult population. I would rather have them under a roof getting help.”

We need low-barrier shelters, and we need them in the communities where homeless people already live.

Besides, low-barrier sheltering is a requirement for state funding, and it ensures we don’t exclude the many who need support. The last Point in Time count estimated there are 5,570 homeless people in Sacramento County, but we probably have more. Most of them live in the city. In 2018, 132 died, a surge from the 71 who died in 2016.

Sacramento’s homeless are overwhelmingly people who simply can’t afford a place to live anymore. For years, local leaders resisted solutions, opting instead for denial and delay. Steinberg has done a lot to shift this mentality, (((IMHO he is a huge part of the problem))) but there’s still much work to do.

Which brings us to the feces-clogged American River.

The river is teeming with unhealthy levels of E. coli bacteria. Human feces contribute to the problem. That’s because, without access to sanitary facilities, homeless people living along the river use it as a toilet.

To be clear: Our leaders won’t let homeless people have toilets, which means that the river where millions of people swim and play every year has become a toilet.

The obvious solution: Install some portable toilets.

Local officials resist this simple and sensible idea because, as they told The Bee, toilets have been destroyed in the past.

Some toilets were trashed, so we must settle for our river becoming a soup of fecal bacteria? Surely, there must be some creative way to address the problem that doesn’t involve throwing our hands up in the air and accepting a major public health hazard as the only possible outcome.

As we finally confront the crisis of homelessness in our community, we must be prepared to come face to face with some hard realities and tough choices.

Will providing shelter for the homeless be simple and uncomplicated? No, but it’s the right thing to do.

Will providing toilets along the river in order to keep the river cleaner be easy and problem free? No, but it’s better for the health and safety of all of us.

We’re in a tough position. If local leaders talk in circles about why they can’t take action, we will never move forward.

Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/edito...#storylink=cpy

That's crazy, I hadn't heard this.

[Adolf_Twitler]

Here in Valparaiso, Indiana there are VERY few homeless. I don't think it's ever been a problem here. Phoenix, Arizona, where I lived for over 30 years, on the other hand, has many homeless. I was always nice to them and gave them money when I could. I was waiting for the city bus one time and I noticed a woman that was looking through a dumpster for food. I had a bit of money to spare, so I gave her 10 dollars she could use for dinner. She was appreciative and delighted and remarked that it felt like her birthday. The way she looked and dressed made it appear that she was homeless. This made my day and hers. I wish I could've done more to help her. I helped out many other people over the years I lived there. I always felt good about helping them, but also felt a sadness for them, and always wished I could do more for these people.

You seem sincere!

I better jot this one down!

[Bill]

That's crazy, I hadn't heard this.

SF is fortunate to have great drinking water, those pulling water out of the delta are not so lucky..

Out kayaking I have seen other urban streams w/ many & some large homeless encampments all w/ zero sanitation facilities