A pastor in St. Louis, Mo. who turned a truck into a portable shower station for the homeless has had such a huge response that he now plans on converting more trucks into portable showers.
Not long after Jake Austin started his non-profit, Shower to the People, local news station KMOV-TV ran a story letting viewers know how he had taken a GMC cabover and outfitted it with two showers and two sinks for the homeless so that they could have a chance to clean up and feel better about themselves.
“Coming out of the shower and feeling human again, having some dignity that they literally might not get anywhere else during the week has been amazing to me,” Austin told KMOV.
The story, which aired in June, attracted nearly 80 million views along with an outpouring of support and an increasing awareness of how the homeless in other cities could benefit from portable showers.
Now, Austin is building another shower truck in Indianapolis and has plans to expand the ministry.
“Our goal is to have 20 trucks in 20 cities by the year 2020,” he said.
Support for Shower to the People has gone international.
“I’ve done Irish radio, Canada radio, Chile and just, you name it, it has been crazy,” Austin said. “People all over the planet emailing us, calling us, tweeting us, texting us, wanting to put one of our trucks in their city.”
