Showers help bridge gap in west county homeless services

Two years ago, Doug Bickford had a cabin in Occidental with hot water for showers. But then, he said, “big shots came up from the city” and raised his rent beyond his reach.

A hot shower, along with many other daily routines most people take for granted, became a precious luxury for the 62-year-old tree remover.

“You just can’t get going in the morning without a shower and clean jeans,” Bickford said one afternoon this week as he sat on a weathered bench at an outdoor amphitheater near Fife Creek in Guerneville.

The west county has no permanent homeless shelter, only a temporary shelter open for four months during the winter. For the other eight months, when a homeless person wants to bathe, there are few options besides using a bucket of water, a public bathroom or going into the Russian River.

But earlier this week, Bickford learned from west county homeless advocate Ted Fox that starting next week, he and other homeless people would be able to shower every Thursday at the Veterans Memorial Hall in Guerneville.

“You mean I can take a shower? Oh, my God,” Bickford said.

Fox and other homeless advocates and service providers have been visiting homeless encampments to let people know that a hot shower and other services soon will be available at the veterans hall. Homeless people also will be provided with food and money to do laundry at a local laundromat.

The daylong service is aimed at homeless veterans and is made possible through Sonoma County Vet Connect, a nonprofit group that provides local veterans with on-site social services, including mental health services. Though the shower service targets homeless vets, it will be open to all homeless people.

“Their shower is the river; they wash their clothes in the river or in a bucket,” said Richard Jones, president of Vet Connect.

“Last year, when a flood hit the area, their encampment got washed out and all their things went down the river,” he said.

While it does not fill as great a need as that of obtaining affordable housing or even a shelter bed, a hot shower can give a homeless person a small bit of dignity, Fox said. Its significance cannot be understated, and it is emblematic of the lack of services for homeless people who live in the west county, he said.

“It’s almost dehumanizing that folks out here don’t have the ability to take a shower for eight months, or get some clean clothes,” Fox said. Three months ago, Fox went before Vet Connect board to sell the idea of making the showers at the veterans hall available to the homeless once a week. The hall is already used as one of several sites for the area’s temporary shelter during the winter.

It wasn’t too hard a sell. Jones estimates that there are more than 1,000 homeless veterans living in Sonoma County, a much larger figure than the county’s latest official count of 217 veterans. Homeless advocates say the count, which is a single-day snapshot, likely does not include every homeless person in the county.

After getting Vet Connect to agree to host the shower service, Fox began talking to other nonprofit organizations that provide a wide array of services to the homeless, including medical, mental health and social services. For many, the shower service became a common ground for organizing ways of providing other services.

Cheryl Bonacorso, who assists patients and coordinates homeless services with the West County Health Centers, said homeless people living in the west county’s more rugged terrain often suffer cuts and scratches and encounter poison oak and other natural hazards. If not treated or kept clean, a simple cut can cause serious problems later, she said.

“Staying clean is important for medical reasons, to prevent infections,” Bonacorso said.

Other times, it’s a sense of mortification that keeps a homeless client from seeking medical help.

“People say to me, ‘I feel bad, I feel dirty. I don’t even want to come in and see you,’?” Bonacorso said.

Other organizations involved in the shower program include St. Joseph Health Sonoma County, Social Advocates for Youth and Community & Family Service Agency.

Social Advocates for Youth will be doing outreach to younger homeless people, while St. Joseph will be looking at possible ways to provide health care services, such as the provider’s mobile clinic.

The county has for several years been examining the need for more services in the west county, including a permanent winter shelter and a year-round service center that would include showers, case management, computer services, lockers and mail delivery.

“We’re like a Band-Aid doing Thursdays only; a day drop-in center is what really is needed,” Fox said.

Supervisor Efren Carrillo, whose 5th District covers much of the west county, agreed with Fox about the need for a permanent year-round services facility for the homeless.

“I do believe there is a need to provide a centralized location for year-round services,” Carrillo said.

Carrillo said the county Community Development Commission has conducted a lengthy public process aimed at identifying a long-term service center, but the location has not been identified. The process requires involvement from all members of the community, including local residents, business owners, the homeless themselves and their advocates.

“It’s a very arduous effort to identify the appropriate location,” Carrillo said.

For Kathy Plumb-Larsen, 63, a shower would help, if only a little, to wash “yesterday out of my hair.”

Plumb-Larsen, who receives medical care from the Russian River Health Center, part of the West County Health Centers, said she’s been homeless for about three years and has had trouble managing her medications.

“I really could use a bit of help right now,” she said.

When asked if a shower would make a difference in her life, Plumb-Larsen looked at the grime caked under her fingernails.

“I’m the kind of person who likes to wake up and have a shower and start my day,” she said.

The veterans hall showers initially will be available between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., but could be expanded, Fox said, adding that many more services are needed for homeless in the west county.

“It’s a Band-Aid, but it’s a start,” Fox said.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @renofish.