Every Thursday morning at Venice Beach, Rachel Sunday and her family offer free 15-minute showers to anyone who’s homeless or doesn’t have a place to get cleaned up.
“One day, I got out of the shower and I felt way better, and I thought to myself, ‘Oh, that’s good. Feeling good and getting out of the shower feels good,’” Sunday said.
She works as a local insurance broker and said she wanted to do something that wasn’t controversial or political, so four years ago, "Power of a Shower" was born.
“Everybody can be onboard with people being clean. The people who don’t like the homeless or they’re anti-homeless people for whatever reason, they’re glad because the homeless people don’t smell,” Sunday said. “And it’s just good for the soul, and it’s good for your health.”
She manages the front of the house, so to speak, handing out socks and underwear while her husband and daughter sanitize between showers and help keep supplies stocked.
“Ain’t nothing like a shower,” said Thomas Gilchrist, who was checking it out for the first time.
Gilchrist works as a truck driver and recently moved to LA for higher pay, but he still can’t afford a place of his own and says he lives in his car.
“They had everything I needed, and they had a little extra, you know, some underwear. [They] gave me some socks, an extra toothbrush,” he said.
“All the shampoo and conditioner and lotions, they all go in here,” Sunday said, pointing to some shelves on the trailer. “We pull it off the rack, and we just restock the rack as needed.”
The showers are first-come, first-served, and they say people often start lining up before 7 a.m. Everyone signs a liability form.
If “Power of a Shower” weren’t around, “I would have washed up at a restaurant or something,” Gilchrist said.
They can only guarantee 30 showers per day but have offered as many as 45 and provide a wide range of toiletries, including toothbrushes, toothpaste, bar soap, shampoo, body wash, conditioner and lotion.
Since launching in 2018, the nonprofit has provided more than 5,700 hot showers.
"And I pass out hygiene kits for people who don’t want to take a shower here and just want to take a shower somewhere else," Sunday said.
They’ve even spent the last four Thanksgivings at Venice Beach, soaking up the sun and the suds.
"We’re not trying to expand or grow or get a whole bunch of trailers and save the world. We’re trying to give back to our community," Sunday said.
They're helping anyone they can start the day with a fresh outlook.
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