HOW-Mobile Showers For The Homeless

Hygiene On Wheels is Canada’s first mobile hygiene unit designed to restore hope and dignity to Toronto’s homeless with free showers and laundry services. The response from the community has been so positive that we've now included other essential services including:

Clothing
Hair Cuts
Shoes
Socks
Razors
Eye Care
Feminine Hygiene Products
Housing Help
Mental Health Referrals


HOW DID WE BEGIN?

In June of 2017, while using one of the city's public libraries in the downtown core, I noticed quite a few people using the public washroom to bathe and groom themselves.

While I have witnessed this happening for quite some time, I decided on that particular day to try to find a solution to help the most vulnerable among us. I then decided  to contact the Toronto
Transit Commission to request a retired bus in the hopes of transforming the bus to a mobile shower unit for the homeless. Thankfully,  The TTC approved the request and we now have a fully
functional bus for our initiative.

THE NEED
It is estimated that over 235,000 Canadians experience homelessness every year. In Toronto, 
over 9000 people are homeless on any given night.  Individuals experiencing homelessness face 
significant barriers to self-care and personal hygiene, including limited access to showers, 
laundry and hand-washing facilities. Obstacles to personal hygiene may contribute to infectious disease and poor mental health for the homeless.

HOW WILL WE DO IT?
The  TTC bus will be renovated with wheelchair accessible showers, washrooms and a hygiene 
street kit will be given to every guest using the mobile shower.

HOW DO YOU DETERMINE WHERE YOU WILL PARK AND PROVIDE SERVICE? 
Our goal is to partner with existing organizations who already have an outreach with the
homeless.

HOW MUCH?
While we have a diverse team of engineers, mechanics and plumbers working to outfit the bus,
our expenses also including permits, insurance and other operating costs will total about $100,000 for each vehicle. 100% of your contributions will go towards funding the maintenance and
daily operations of the mobile unit. Your generous donation will help us launch at multiple locations across the GTA.

OUR PROGRESS SO FAR

It's been 16 months since we started this process and so much has happened. The reality of 
starting a nonprofit for the long term takes time. Knowing that this project means so much to our friends on the streets, we wanted to ensure that this was done right. Retrofitting a bus with 
showers has never been done in our city before but we are pleased that we've found a 
Toronto-based architectural firm to complete this project. We are also working with a nonprofit 
social contractor to work on the retrofit as well. Slowly but surely we are determined to bring 
this much-needed service to our city. 

HOW YOU CAN HELP?

Share our mobile hygiene unit story with friends and family.

Start your own fundraising campaign at work or at home to help us raise funds.

You may read more about out project: www.hygieneonwheels.org

Any amount you can give will go along way to rebuilding the self-esteem of the homeless with
our mobile shower.

We thank you for your support!