Advocacy for We Hope Showers and Laundry
Service From June 2022 - November 2022
The Heart of MacArthur Park:
It began with a simple question: how do we bridge the gap between neighbors? On February 14, 2022, Project Dignity was born not from a boardroom, but from a thermos of coffee and a handful of cookies. What started as "Mondays Matter" at MacArthur Park, a small gathering to share hot chocolate and conversation with our unhoused neighbors; it quickly grew into a collaboration of uplifting community and learning for the Central Long Beach.
Turning "Band-Aids" into Action
While we provide essentials like socks, hygiene kits, water, and meals, we’ve always known these are "band-aids." We rotated weekly lunches between four (4) organizations. However, in the absence of a regional master plan for homelessness, these connections became the tourniquet the community needed.
Showers and laundry were the second most asked for needs from people experiencing homelessness behind shelter and food. Coming out of a the Covid Pandemic state with funding floating around for basic needs, there were a handful of mobile shower organizations in and around Los Angeles County. A board member of AOC7 (currently known as Climb Central LB) contacted a few mobile shower organizations and connected with We Hope.
Their trucks were equipped with showers, and ADA shower, an ADA toilet, and washers and dryers.; it even hauled away the brown water for disposal. The truck usually came with 3 employees; some who had formerly experienced homelessness: a driver who also helped with sanitation and sign-ups; a person who sanitized after every shower, and moved the laundry (from basket to wash to dryer to basket). The funding came from collaborative efforts between AOC7, Care Closet, and County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisor for District 4, which covered the area.
Until, unfortunately, We Hope pulled out of Southern California. When they left, hope left with them. It took an entire year of advocacy (all of 2023) to bring shower service back.
Fortunately, these grassroots efforts did more than just provide a moment of care; they caught the ears and eyes of city leadership.
Because of the direct impact and advocacy of this community, the City of Long Beach took a major step forward by collaborating with LAHSA (Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority) themselves. Soon, Shower of Hope set up weekly showers on Wednesdays at MacArthur Park. Together, they implemented a weekly mobile shower program to ensure neighbors could maintain their health, dignity, and self-respect.
Project Dignity split efforts: some organizations continues to show up on Mondays for Mondays Matter and a couple started to pop-up with the showers on Wednesdays, Welcome Wednesdays, which focused on water, food, and harm reduction supplies. During this time, AOC7 and PECC became “community case workers,” navigating and advocating for a few individuals experiencing homelessness; leading to permenant housing for most.
Navigation Through Change
When MacArthur Park closed for its much-needed reconstruction, our neighbors lost their home base. This made the mobile shower units even more critical. Shower of Hope moved about a mile north to Chittick Field (aka The Hole), where they provided much needed showers weekly, for about another year. Then, they left too.
Outside of mobile units that are no longer serving the area, shower access is incredibly scarce in our area. The only other options are:
St. Luke’s Church (7th & Atlantic) – available only on Saturday mornings.
Alamitos Beach – offering open, public showers.
The best news is that as of February 2026, the City of Long Beach is in process of purchasing a mobile shower truck to have serve different locations throughout the city.
A Community-Led Future
Project Dignity is a testament to what happens when neighborhood associations, faith groups, non-profits, and local government stop working in silos and start working together. Its the model “pilot program.”
Showers and laundry bring dignity, but the community connection brings hope.
