Cornielius, Ore.– Washington County’s First Shower Trailer Goes into Service Providing Hot Showers to the Homeless A grass roots effort to build a shower trailer to serve the homeless of Washington County is complete just in time for the winter shelter season. From now until November 18th, the trailer will be stationed at the Open Door Counseling Center at 34420 SW Tualatin Valley Highway in Hillsboro. Beginning on the 18th, the trailer will rotate between Open Door and the two western Washington County winter shelters at the United Church of Christ at 2032 College Way in Forest Grove and Emanuel Lutheran Church at 1124 S. Beech Street in Cornelius. Washington County has very limited access to showers for those without homes. Open Door Counseling Center is open four days a week and, prior to the completion of the shower trailer, offered a single shower. Just Compassion in Tigard is open one day a week and offers showers on the first Sunday of the month for two hours. The two winter shelters had no shower facilities until now. The shower trailer will bring a much-needed resource for the region. The trailer has two shower compartments, and with a tankless water heater, the number of hot showers it can provide at most sites is limited only by the time available. The shower trailer was built by volunteers, Steve Parr and Jeff Shapiro, and local businesses contributed free and discounted materials. As a result, the cost to bring a custom-built trailer to the region, $19,000.  $30,000 to buy one already made.. Some of the major contributors include Miracle Sign Company and Ace Hardware in Forest Grove, Lowes in Hillsboro, Curtis Trailers, Caughlan’s Flooring, Newburg Steel, The Plumbers Inc, Oregon Electrical Group, Columbia Water Heaters and AJ Electrical. The project was made possible by funding from many individual donations, a grant from the City of Forest Grove and a generous donation from the Forest Grove Rotary – Noon Day. McMenamins Grand Lodge provided a supply of towels and The Oregon Soap Company donated a supply of liquid soap to get the program going. The program relies on volunteers to move the trailer between the three locations. The eight by twelve-foot trailer was designed by Parr and Shapiro to be as versatile as possible. It is powered by a standard extension cord and can be hooked up to any hose bib. It can be drained into any sewer access within 100 feet. The tankless hot water heater is run on propane. The trailer also can hit the road with no utilities. It sports a 200 gallon freshwater tank and two 100 gallon waste tanks that can provide up to eight showers. It can be towed by most full-size pick-ups. The first focus of the shower trailer program is to serve the clients of the two winter shelters and Open Door. However, it is hoped that the service will expand to other locations, and possibly inspire other groups to purchase or build shower trailers to meet the significant demand in the region. More information on the building of the trailer and the program can be found at communityconnectionwest.org/projects

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