Homeless shower program seeks Redding council OK to expand

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described the city's rules for portable showers.

Backers of a pilot project to offer showers to Redding’s homeless last year are seeking support from the Redding City Council on Tuesday to change city zoning code to allow the program to expand.

“I think really what I would like to emphasize is what we’re looking for, what we’re looking to accomplish is to implement a creative solution to this public health concern in our city,” said Delcie Strahan, a patient educator at Shasta Community Health Center who formed the Clean Break Partnership and organizes it separately from her role at the health center.

The program offered 369 showers to 136 people across 12 weeks from February to April last year, Strahan said. Additionally, the program made 102 referrals to other programs, including the Good News Rescue Mission, utility assistance drug and alcohol and mental health programs.

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Aside from the showers and connections to services, the program reduces impacts on local businesses from those seeking to use their restrooms, Strahan said.

“We see this as a way to engage an outreach in our community and meet people where they’re at and engage them with these services,” said Strahan, who ran the five-stall portable shower trailer in the health center’s parking lot.

Currently, shower trailer operators need to apply for a use permit and can operate in heavy commercial and public facility zones, Development Services Director Larry Vaupel said in a report to the council.

“The primary issues associated with the operation of portable shower facilities are the concerns of individuals who live, work and own businesses in the immediate vicinity regarding safety, loitering and litter issues,” Vaupel said in the report. “Through the use permit process, such issues can be addressed through appropriate operational standards.”

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Strahan, though, said she wants the council to consider an exemption to that requirement. She favors a process by which the Clean Break Partnership — or others who operate the showers — would submit detailed operating plans to the city’s building department that would account for issues including safety, cleanliness, noise and other impacts.

“Most likely, every single location, we would have to notify neighbors and there would be a public hearing,” Strahan said. “In my opinion, we’re not asking for a lot, really what we’re looking for is to be allowed the possibility of operating.”

Strahan is waiting for the zoning change before acquiring a trailer to operate the program on a long-term basis.

“We need to remove this significant roadblock before we start grant-writing, building community support and advocating for funds," she said.

The shower program also offers a clothing exchange and hygiene products that can only be used onsite.

“We’re really trying to reduce the waste that goes out into our community and be good neighbors,” Strahan said.

It’s modeled after similar programs in Santa Rosa, Modesto and San Diego, in addition to Strahan’s own work speaking to the area’s homeless, service providers and others. She found during that research that many either go without a shower or resort to bathing in the Sacramento River.

“Really the thing that was the most glaring was the lack of options for restrooms and showers,” she said.

The Clean Break Partnership joins with several organizations within the community — the health center, Good News Rescue Mission, Redding Homeless Day Resource Center, California Heritage YouthBuild Academy, Big Valley Sanitation, Empire Recover Center, Partnership HealthPlan of California and the Salvation Army Redding Corps. Long term, the Day Resource Center is interested in implementing the program and acting as its fiscal agent, Strahan said.

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Vaupel isn’t making a recommendation to the council or proposing any change to the zoning code. The council on Tuesday could direct any proposed changes for approval at a future date.

Strahan said she has several locations in mind for the showers, including near a local school that serves unsheltered students and property owned by private businesses.

“By no means would we be taking it upon ourselves to open up shop wherever we want,” Strahan said. “We’ve also explored the possibility of operating around South City Park, the Library, to relieve some of the stress at the library’s facilities.”

If you go

What: Redding City Council meeting

When: 6 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Council chambers, 777 Cypress Ave.

More information: cityofredding.org