Brief History
Feet-N-More Shower Trailer was first used on February 23rd, 2021 at the Salvation Army in Surprise where we gave just nine showers. The trailer had been purchased in 2020 with funds from a bequest designated for Social Justice Ministries. The City of Surprise was supportive of the shower trailer from the beginning and contracted with The Church of the Palms as a vendor to give showers in Surprise, thus our first outing was there. Over time we added other sponsors and locations where we offered showers to the homeless.
Volunteers
We would not be able to offer a shower ministry without a committed corp of volunteers who take the trailer to locations where the homeless live or congregate. John Durbin schedules our 20 some odd volunteers on a weekly and monthly calendar. Typically we take the trailer out twice a week and try to avoid back-to-back events. Most shower events are six-eight hours to load, travel, give showers, return and unload the trailer/truck as needed.
Locations
We currently have two locations that we go to twice a month: On the second and fourth Tuesdays, we go to Bicentennial Park on Nash Street, a couple of blocks south of Bell in Surprise. We’ve been going to this location for a year. On the first and third Wednesdays, we go to The Grove church in Chandler. We have been giving showers to asylum seekers for over two years. We also work with Project Connect and give showers at their events across the Valley, four to five times a year. The City of Peoria hosts an event at Rio Vista Park twice a year and we partner with them with our shower trailer. We also partner with Faith Apostolic Center in El Mirage several Saturdays a year. Every Monday evening we provide showers to our I-HELP guests.
The new church truck
When the tow vehicle we had used with the trailer for three years went kaput, we rented trucks from U-Haul until the Executive Community approved a funding proposal from the Social Justice Leadership Team. The truck was purchased to be used by the church with priority given to the Shower Ministry. We have used the new truck for 6 months and it is ideally suited with an onboard generator, a crew cab, and a powerful engine which is a full hybrid.
The new banner in King Hall
We are grateful to Paul Hiles for making a new shower trailer banner that hangs in King Hall. Paul Hiles designed it so we can update the number of showers given as often as we choose.
Here is the exciting news!
WE HAVE GIVEN 4000+ SHOWERS! This has been achieved in three years and eight months. We look forward to a celebration when we reach 5000 showers given in 2025. Watch our banner as the numbers climb in the next few months.