Claire Adams, a senior at South Salem High School, is leading a United Way project to create a mobile shower trailer. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter)
When Ron Hays became CEO of Salem’s United Way, he wanted to do things differently.
In many communities, United Way chiefly grants funds to other non-profit organizations. Hays wanted his group to take on its own projects and get a younger generation involved.
His solution?
Put high school students on the United Way board, and let them spearhead projects.
“They’re going to be our future, so it’s critical that they be involved,” he said.
That’s how South Salem High School senior Claire Adams became the face of a campaign to build a mobile shower trailer to serve homeless people across the mid-Willamette Valley.
The trailer would have three private showers and toilets and travel to areas where homeless people often don’t have access to showers, like northern Polk County.
Homelessness “is such a huge problem,” Adams said. People she talks to often wonder how they can make a dent in something so complex.
“It starts with one little thing,” she said.
Adams came to United Way through Leadership Youth, a Salem Chamber of Commerce program that pairs young people with a community mentor. She got involved her sophomore year.
The program “made me really want to get involved in my community more,” Adams said. She put on an assembly at school about homelessness in the Salem area. Then, she started working with Raul Marquez, another student serving on the United Way board who led a project to create Salem’s first youth homeless shelter.
“Once we were successful so quickly, we looked at what’s next,” said Elizabeth Schrader, United Way’s development director.
United Way staff had seen a video on Facebook about Lava Mae, a San Francisco organization that provides mobile showers and toilets, and thought a similar project would work well in Salem.
Hays approached Adams about taking it on six months ago.
She said yes, and quickly learned a lot about utility hookups and social work.
“I realized how much I really didn’t know,” she said. Initially, she was looking at getting a bus, but realized a trailer would work better because the driver would only need a commercial driver’s license.
“It’s going to cost less money and be more efficient,” she said.
The goal is to be up and running next spring, serving about 20 people per day.
Before that can happen, Adams has to raise about $110,000 to cover acquiring and retrofitting the trailer, as well as a truck to pull it and a generator.
Adams also wants to get students donating clothing and other items that people who use the showers may need.
“Everyone’s been super positive about my project,” she said. “Fellow students were coming up to me and talking about it.”
Once the trailer is operating, the ARCHES Project, a local homeless services agency, has agreed to run it.
Jimmy Jones, the ARCHES project director, said homeless people living outside of Salem often rely on public bathroom sinks or the Willamette River for bathing.
“A lot of the clients that I assess are lucky to shower once a week,” Jones said. That means cuts and scrapes from living outside become infected.
Jones said his agency could probably keep the trailer running on $100,000 a year or less, including a full-time staff person, and will pursue grant funding.
Adams plans on attending the University of Oregon next year and said she’d like to continue community service by becoming a nurse or mental health provider, though she’s also interested in business.
Hays said his hope with engaging high schoolers was to foster that interest while giving them adult experiences. He insisted Adams and Marquez be full board members, rather than honorary or junior members, meaning they have the same voting power as their adult counterparts.
“It’ll be a lifelong commitment to helping the community,” he said.
Adams said it’s worked.
“I think it’s going to be a very big part of my future,” she said.
Reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
Correction: This article was updated to correct Raul Marquez’s last name.
This article was updated to separate the initial cost of the trailer from ongoing operating costs.
Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.
