A former marketing executive quit her job to start a non-profit that refurbishes old transit buses and provides 2,000 showers a week to the homeless. Photo: Lava Mae
Talk about cleaning up.
A former marketing executive, Doniece Sandoval, raised $51,806 dollars in just four weeks so she could redesign old San Francisco transit buses into mobile showers for the homeless. According to her verified Indiegogo page, over 400 people shot her past her goal of $50,000 in just four weeks – shouting with their wallets that they too believe that with hygiene comes dignity and with dignity, opportunity.
As the housing market in San Francisco continues to spiral out of control, it’s no joke that the city is being called the homeless capital of the nation. Frisco has about 6,500 homeless people but provides access to only about 16 to 20 shower stalls throughout the entire city. Doniece was moved at the plight of these homeless people and she had an idea on how to increase the number of showers in the city. She quit her marketing job with the dream of helping them get clean, and as a result; hopefully help them move towards better opportunities.
Photo: Lava Mae
“One day I passed a woman in the street and she was very dirty and basically crying, and I heard her say that she would never be clean.” Sandoval told ABC News. “There’s obviously a lot of layers but I was wondering what her opportunities were to actually get clean.”
Her project started off with just one bus that was donated by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. It hit the road in March 2014 and was such a success that several more buses have been transformed into mobile showers.
Photo: Lava Mae
With the belief that, “Everyone has the right to be clean,” Doniece started her non-profit company, Lava Mae, and formed a team that argues that unless the homeless are given a chance to get clean, they cannot get access to jobs or housing, or maintain health and well being. Going mobile gives Lava Mae the chance to reach homeless all across the city and their trademarked blue buses are designed to tap into city hydrants to bring “one shower at a time” and each bus is equipped to provide 2,000 showers per week. They are also working on an A-Z toolkit for other communities to replicate and an affiliate program is launching in 2016.
Check out the video of the launch of Lava Mae.
Now this is how you get things done. Raising over $50,000 in four weeks and now she’s providing over 2000 showers a week from just one bus in San Francisco…the rest of country could learn from Lava Mae and their compassion and empathy for our nation’s homeless…
Now this is how you get things done. Raising over $50,000 in four weeks and now she’s providing over 2000 showers a week from just one bus in San Francisco…the rest of country could learn from Lava Mae and their compassion and empathy for our nation’s homeless…