Lynch Fund grant to fix up shower trailer for homeless

Food with Friends got a $35,000 grant from the Ed & Dollie Lynch Fund that will be used to renovate a second shower trailer for people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to get clean.

The nonprofit operates the Shower Outreach Project, or SOP (like sopping wet), which provides showers to almost 100 people every week. The trailer is hauled to different places around the county, such as Living Hope Church and Friends of the Carpenter. Last month, the group got a second shower trailer and a truck to haul the trailers.

Once the second trailer is renovated and up and running, Food with Friends will be able to provide more showers to more people. Vancouver lacks shower facilities for the homeless, which is why the nonprofit started the Shower Outreach Project. A day center for those who are homeless is slated to have showers, but it won’t open until at least September. As the weather heats up, the local lack of public shower facilities is particularly troublesome.

“Showers are not just a comfort or luxury, they are a necessity,” Jamie Spinelli, vice president of Food with Friends, said in a news release. “Not being able to shower regularly makes someone more susceptible to infections and other health issues, but also creates a barrier to housing, employment and connection to the rest of the community.

“Without connection, people lose hope, and without hope, people give up. We believe the Shower Outreach Project benefits both the unhoused and housed of Clark County because everyone in a community benefits when all of its members are healthy.”

The late Ed and Dollie Lynch felt strongly that the community needed to do more for the local homelessness crisis.

“In researching how we can most effectively deal with this issue, it’s become clear we need new and additional tools to truly make a difference in this situation,” said the Lynches’ son, Michael Lynch, in the news release.

“Jamie, Cherish and Food with Friends set an outstanding example for all of us to see a real need in an unmet void, figure out how to help address it, and then make it happen. What they are doing in helping people is simply incredible. And we are so proud to be able to help them flourish and grow.”

The Lynches’ fund at the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington has aided similar projects, such as the Clark Neighbors Food Project, an ongoing effort to feed people in need.

For more information on Food with Friends and its Shower Outreach Project, visit www.foodwithfriends.net or call Spinelli at 360-723-5541.