Shower and laundry services now operating at Street Roots

“It makes me feel human.”

That was a recurring sentiment expressed on a rainy afternoon by Street Roots vendors emerging fresh from a shower and wearing clothes they just washed in the building’s laundry room.

The basement floor houses Street Roots’ new shower and laundry facilities, offering appointments for showers and a wash and dry laundry service.

For vendor Lore Wilson, using the facilities offered some reprieve from the experience of living outside.

“It restores a massive amount of personal dignity, self-esteem and confidence to have a shower and clean clothes,” Wilson said. “Having my basic needs so considerately cared for, with so much kindness and compassion — to have my humanity recognized in such a way — is a good reminder that I am not less than.”

The space is equipped with washers and dryers, two showers and a small “beauty parlor” for post-shower routines. With backlit mirrors, plush chairs and hair tools available, the space feels spa-like.

That feeling is exactly what staff had hoped for, according to Keeley Higgins, Street Roots vendor services coordinator. Higgins runs the facility’s washers and dryers, as well as its showers. The newly renovated space was something vendors specifically requested when the organization collected input on how to set up its new building on the corner of Northwest 3rd Avenue and West Burnside Street.

Higgins, who joined Street Roots last fall, said the space is something she has dreamed of.

Higgins had a vision of a trauma-informed and accessible space. To her, this meant adjusting the height of the vanity tables to be sized for those in wheelchairs, providing weight-bearing chairs that would be comfortable for a wide range of body sizes and painting the walls in calming colors.

“Oftentimes, people who have access to laundry services, really take for granted how much of an armor it is to have clean clothes that you feel like represent you,” Higgins said.

Today, Higgins operates the laundry services with a 24-hour turnaround. Vendors who sign up receive their clothing washed and dried by the next day. The shower services operate three times a week with appointment slots available Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Why showers and laundry?

People often take for granted easy access to showers and laundry, Higgins said. And access to clean clothes is essential, whether it’s for everyday hygiene, for job interviews or while selling newspapers, she added.

Some vendors who are housed still utilize the facilities due to the cost of laundry. Vendor Kenneth Lebal said it’s an improvement to his daily life because he can’t afford the laundry service available to him in his apartment. He now uses Street Roots’ laundry services every few weeks.

Hygiene services help keep people living outside healthy. They also reduce the amount of trash in encampments.

A 2022 report by Portland State University’s Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative outlined the high need of shower and laundry services in tandem with waste management for people experiencing homelessness.

“The need for better access to laundry services was identified by people with lived experience of homelessness, government employees and service providers as a critical health and waste management issue,” according to the report. “Wet/soiled clothing makes up a significant proportion of trash collected from encampments, and laundry access would reduce the amount of clothing and bedding items that need to be discarded.”

Showers

In preparation for launching the shower program, Higgins spoke to other shower providers in the city. She spoke with those who run Sunnyside Shower Project, Hygiene4All and 13 Salmon Shower Project to see how their programs run and to gather inspiration. Spas were another source of inspiration for Higgins. She said she hoped to avoid a clinical feeling, and instead aimed for the calming and luxurious feeling one might get from a spa trip.

Beyond the showering itself, Higgins says another part of the experience is the chance to have a private space.

“Privacy is so hard-won in this community, in this landscape, just having privacy for a while to be in your body.”

Wilson has used the showers once, but plans to do so again soon.

“I was even more floored the first time I used the showers as they are above and beyond anything else I’ve seen at most of the resource centers I’ve been to,” they said.

“I had 30 minutes of a shower and 20 minutes of downtime to just be and feel human again. A significant break from the constant sensory overload that world becomes when unhoused as a neurodivergent person. I felt like I could breathe again.”

Vendors who use the service receive 30 minutes to shower and 20 minutes for “wrap-up,” which can either be used to extend one’s shower or for use of the vanity space.

“I am very proud to say, we have the longest shower runtime in the city that I know of, out of any program,” Higgins said.

Hanging on a wall in the vanity space is a hand-painted sign that reads: “Francine’s Beauty Parlor.” It’s there to honor former vendor Francine Park.

Park always made sure those around had what they needed to look and feel their best, whether that meant offering to fix another vendor’s hair or keeping spare, clean clothing to offer others. She would often use the mirror in the tiny kitchen of the former Street Roots location to apply glamorous layers of eye shadow and mascara.

Park died March 28, 2019.

Higgins said she recognizes the way other shower services may have to operate on a stricter schedule due to staffing and volume.

“My goal is to never rush anyone,” Higgins said. “We’re not turning around person, after person, after person. It’s really supposed to be a luxurious time.”

Street Roots is an award-winning weekly publication focusing on economic, environmental and social justice issues. The newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Street Roots newspaper operates independently of Street Roots advocacy and is a part of the Street Roots organization. Learn more about Street Roots. Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today.

This article appears in December 24, 2025.