North Texas nonprofit provides free mobile showers for unhoused peopleNorth Texas nonprofit provides free mobile showers for unhoused people

Amid triple-digit temperatures, a few dozen unhoused people sat in the parking lot of First Presbyterian Church of Dallas on Thursday morning, waiting for free showers.

“There’s nowhere else to shower,” said Trinidad Hernandez. “I don’t want to dirty up people’s restaurant and gas station bathrooms.”

The mobile showers were provided by local nonprofit Streetside Showers, which comes to the parking lot twice a month and makes seven other North Texas stops, including in Irving, Plano and McKinney. In addition to the showers, the group provides free clothes and hygiene products.

“It’s basic necessities that we forget about in our day-to-day life that the homeless don’t have,” said Andrew Hutchison, a site manager with Streetside Showers. He said his Christian faith motivates him “to care about people, being the hands and feet of the Lord.”

Tim Smith, director of communications for The Stewpot, First Presbyterian Church’s ministry for unhoused people, said “it’s all about giving people dignity back. Who doesn’t feel better after a shower?”

The extreme summer heat has only made this resource more necessary.

“We were initially seeing 35-40 people. We’re now at 80-100,” Smith said, adding that more people are also visiting the dining hall because of the heat.