Last Friday, St. Francis Center officially broke ground on a construction project to remodel our shower and restroom facility to accommodate more of our homeless and extremely low-income guests!
Access to free, safe showers in our community is very limited. In fact, SFC is the only facility where homeless guests can take a shower south of the 10 freeway in Los Angeles all the way down to Huntington Park.
In response to an increased demand for SFC’s shower program, we were able to expand the hours this program is offered. At the end of 2015, we were able to offer the shower program twice a week and were providing showers for over 1,600 guests. This year, SFC increased the shower program days of operation from three to five days a week thanks to a new partnership with Lava Mae Los Angeles and we anticipate serving 3,500 guests through the program by the end of the year!
Our shower facility has never been remodeled since we purchased our building in 1992. In order to not only accommodate the increase in guests but also to ensure effective operation of the program in the future, remodeling our shower and restroom facilities became a priority.
Thanks to a generous foundation grant, we are now able to start renovations, which will include the addition of two shower stalls (4 total), not only allowing more guests to be served, but also to make it possible for men and women to utilize the facility simultaneously while maintaining guests’ privacy, enhancing the overall operation of the facility with new ventilation, lighting, washer and dryer hookups, and storage. Special thanks to Tile Designs by Fina, a past TOP TAMALE sponsor, for also generously donating almost all of the tile needed for the project!
Make sure to stop by at the end of April when the project should be completed to see our new showers and restrooms!
