A non-profit is providing a way for homeless people in Waukesha to get clean in a way that has been missing in the community. It now has a place for people to shower. Something that has been very hard to do for homeless women.
“I live on the street. I was in the tent. I was in the woods. Now wherever my feet stop. I stop,” said Lisa. "I've gone four months without a shower."
We aren’t showing you Lisa’s face or telling you her last name to protect her privacy. We met her at the Hope Center in downtown Waukesha. A non-profit that tries to provide basic needs, like meals and clothes, to low-income or homeless people.
“For women out here in the Waukesha community, there is no facilities for us to use just to shower. There are facilities for men, not for women,” said Lisa.
Lisa says in order to get clean she has been forced to find other options.
“A bird bath. If it is nice out maybe by the river or by the lake,” said Lisa. “I get wet wipes and baby wipes and I will go into a bathroom someplace where I can be alone for a few minutes where I can half and half.”
Hearing needs like Lisa’s, the Hope Center made it a priority to add a shower program when it moved into its new facility on Broadway in Waukesha.
“The showers we have, that we talked about, was a dream that I had back 15 years ago,” said Ralph Zick, executive director of the Hope Center. “For us to provide this, this is something. Some of these people haven’t bathed in years.”
Until last week, Lisa had not showered in four months. Today, she got to take a shower ahead of a job interview.
“It is great, It is fantastic. It is like having your steak and a piece of pie too,” said Lisa.
The Hope Center also plans to open a laundry facility for homeless people by the middle of the summer.
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