{"id":60488,"date":"2025-07-12T20:48:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T20:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/60488\/"},"modified":"2025-07-12T20:48:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T20:48:12","slug":"happiness-in-a-two-stall-trailer-how-a-san-diego-charity-helps-homeless-people-get-showers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/60488\/","title":{"rendered":"Happiness in a two-stall trailer \u2013 how a San Diego charity helps homeless people get showers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Third Avenue Charitable Organization Director Lorena Galligan outside of the organization\u2019s shower trailer. (Photo by James Miller\/Times of San Diego)<\/p>\n

More than 100 people gathered in the courtyard behind First Lutheran Church<\/a> in Cortez Hill this week for coffee and breakfast sandwiches provided by the Third Avenue Charitable Organization<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In addition to providing food on weekdays, the organization gives out clothes, charges devices and holds mail for 1,400 people without addresses.<\/p>\n

Every other Wednesday, though, there\u2019s something extra: showers, offered out of a silver two-stall trailer.<\/p>\n

Lorena Galligan, TACO\u2019s director, said she hopes to offer showers to clients every Wednesday, but the organization has been short on volunteers.<\/p>\n

About 24 people are able to shower each day the organization brings out the trailer.<\/p>\n

She said that for about three months TACO \u2014 which is separate from the church\u2019s ministry \u2014has used the trailer, a gift from Think Dignity<\/a>, another homeless service provider.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear to Galligan \u2013 homeless people feel better about themselves when they are clean.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re already unsheltered,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople are already making judgments about you because you\u2019re on the street.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marine veteran Rafael Peralta, <\/strong>59, said he has showered in TACO\u2019s trailer and at a shelter run by Father Joe\u2019s<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to Peralta, the showers are transformative for people like him.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at the happiness when they come out,\u201d Peralta said. \u201cThey leave knowing that at least TACO was able to provide a shower.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each person entering the trailer receives a towel, hygiene kit and fresh clothes. They are given 15 minutes in a stall, which is sanitized after each use.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>One of the stalls in the Third Avenue Charitable Organization\u2019s shower trailer. (Photo by James Miller\/Times of San Diego)<\/p>\n

Galligan increasingly has met seniors at TACO meals who are experiencing homelessness for the first time, often living in their cars after their apartment buildings are sold and remodeled.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s found that seniors rarely want to tell their relatives they\u2019ve become homeless. Galligan encourages them to reach out, but they often decline. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re like, \u2018No, all good, I\u2019m living in my car, I\u2019ll save money,’\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m just like \u2018Yeah, but that\u2019s really hard.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul Engels, a retired nurse who has volunteered distributing food at TACO for the past five years, said the number of homeless at the organization\u2019s Wednesday breakfasts grow to around 150 people towards the end of each month, as people run out of Social Security and EBT credits.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A communal Friday meal in the Third Avenue Charitable Organization\u2019s courtyard. (Courtesy of Lorena Galligan)<\/p>\n

Engels said that the organization\u2019s Monday dinners and Friday breakfasts draw the largest crowds \u2014 up to 250 people at the end of the month.<\/p>\n

The meals are communal and they\u2019re a way for Engels to serve his community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city and the church have done so much for me,\u201d Engels said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a way for me to give back some of what I get from my environment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Third Avenue Charitable Organization Director Lorena Galligan outside of the organization\u2019s shower trailer. (Photo by James Miller\/Times of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":60489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,43769,43770,7265,3549,7264,6358,24256,43771,43772,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-60488","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-first-lutheran-church","12":"tag-homeless-veterans","13":"tag-homelessness","14":"tag-san-diego","15":"tag-sandiego","16":"tag-seniors","17":"tag-showers","18":"tag-think-dignity","19":"tag-third-avenue-charitable-organization","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114842232693917251","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}