by Dianna M. Náñez - May. 13, 2010 05:46 PM
The Arizona Republic

People who are homeless are often at the mercy of strangers.

You learn to live without many things most people take for granted, said Sandra Frankie, a 69-year-old woman who was living in Scottsdale before she became homeless last year.

 
A shower, bed and hot meals become a luxury, she added.

Luckily for people who are homeless in Tempe, the community's compassion is overflowing.

On Tuesday about 35 people at Grace Community Church were able to bathe at a homeless shelter that moves to a different Tempe church each night - thanks to the generosity of Tempe businesses and residents who helped pay for the mobile-shower unit.

Alisha Brisete was at the shelter with her fiancé. She was grateful to everyone who helped donate the shower and sponsor the shelter.

"It's just a really great thing," she said. "We came here from Mesa when we lost our home. You can't be homeless in Mesa."

In Tempe, when the city was slow to build a shelter for its population of homeless residents, church congregations took the lead. A small group of Tempe churches formed the Interfaith Homeless Emergency Lodging Program, or I-HELP. I-HELP is staffed with church volunteers and managed by Tempe Community Action Agency, which gets some funding from the city.

Since the program was launched, it has added enough churches to provide sleeping space and hot meals seven days a week.

This week, thanks to a group of Tempe residents who took part in a community leadership group, the shelter will now offer showers.

The Tempe Leadership Class XXV raised funds for the "Shower Power" program. Tempe Leadership is a non-profit that fosters leadership skills and encourages participants to understand the importance of community service. Each leadership class chooses a service project. This year, being the group's 25th anniversary, the class of 16 wanted to do something that would have a lasting impact.

"We wanted to leave a legacy," said class member Lauren Kuby, a Tempe resident who works at Arizona State University.

The group learned of a survey done last year by Tempe Community Action Agency that found that 33 percent of the people who stayed at the shelter reported that bad hygiene was the top reason they had trouble securing a job or were let go from a job.

Tempe's First United Methodist Church had opened its showers twice a week for the homeless. But that left five days uncovered. Providing a mobile-shower unit would make bathing available seven nights a week.

The fundraising goal to purchase the shower was $25,000 - a lofty goal in a bad economy. But the group was determined, said Stephen Sparks,director of operations for Tempe Community Action Agency.

The group held a raffle and solicited donations from businesses. Whole Foods at Rural and Baseline roads donated 5 percent of its a one-day sales. Tempe residents and businesses helped the group raise $16,000. A welcome surprise came from the Henkel Consumer Goods, which owns the Dial Corporation. The company came through with a $6,000 donation to help the group meet its goal. The company also paid to decorate the two-stall mobile shower and will provide Dial soap for the lifetime of the program.

"They were amazing," Sparks said.

Buoyed by the community's generosity, the leadership class continued to raise funds and was able to exceed its goal by $8,000. That money will go toward maintaining the mobile unit.

Brisete said the showers would help people feel better about applying for a job. "It's about confidence. You start to get real down out here. Being able to take a shower and be clean helps you feel better about yourself," she said.

Frankie is a monitor for the I-HELP program for six months. I-HELP recruits people who are homeless to help manage the program. Many men in the program will benefit from the showers, she said.

"You know they get these day-labor jobs. It's hard work, so they get real grimy," she said. "This (shower) came just in time for summer. It's a real nice thing for them."

Beth Anne Martin, 20, of Tempe, has volunteered with I-HELP for two years. On Tuesday she was at Grace church serving meals and coffee. She said she wishes more people would consider volunteering with I-HELP.

"I've learned a lot. These are good people," she said. "I hate it when people say, 'The homeless. The homeless.' They are not "the homeless," they are people. People who are not all drug addicts or alcoholics. You know it's hard to make positive change in your life if you don't have a home, if you're hungry, if you can't shower or wash your clothes. I'm just glad we can help."

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/tempe/articles/2010/05/13/20100513homeless-showers-tempe.html#ixzz0nwCoN76K