Церковь в Порт-Анжелес построила мобильный душ для бездомных

Port Angeles church working on shower trailer Published 1:30 am Friday, September 4, 2026 PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles church is working to bring a shower trailer to the city. The Port Angeles Seventh Day Adventist Church has been converting a 25-foot trailer into a shower trailer for its ministry called PAHotshowers. “PAHotshowers is a kind of sister utilization tool that we have with PAHotmeals,” Pastor Jay Coon said. PAHotmeals started four years ago and offers meals from Oct. 1 through the end of May. “We noticed while doing this that showers and clothes were always something needed for people who were homeless,” Coon said. “So we decided to build a shower trailer instead of purchasing one because the price for purchasing one was so high.” The church’s shower trailer also will have a clothing bank that will offer men’s and women’s clothing. To build the shower trailer, the church stripped down a trailer to its frame and then built it up on top of that frame, doing a lot of welding and reorganizing of existing trailer features, Coon said. The trailer has two full bathrooms each with a toilet, sink, shower and mirror. The trailer is still in the construction phase, but Coon said the church hopes to deploy it sometime in October. “It’s probably 90 percent done,” he said. “Probably another 30 to 35 days of working on it.” Once it’s completed, the church plans to deploy the trailer into the community at least twice and possibly three times a week. The details of where it will travel along with dates and times have not yet been determined. Another feature is an outdoor hair-washing station where haircuts can be done. Coon is working with local beauticians and barbers to provide free haircuts to those who need them. The showers will run for just seven minutes, but people will have 20-25 minutes in the bathroom. The trailer has lockers which people can store their belongings in while they use the bathroom. The church will provide towels, toothbrushes and toothpaste so people can “feel human again,” Coon said. “One of the things I feel is very important for people in Port Angeles to understand is that the reason we’re doing this is our motto is ‘casting value, creating friendships,’” he said. “We’re trying to build trust with these people so we can get them into our 12-step Regeneration program that we have running every Tuesday.” The church has offered the 12-step program for five years now and has Jenni Tiderman-Rogers, a recovering addict with eight years of sobriety, running the program. “We ourselves are not a recovery program, but once a person has quit using, we want to keep sustaining that projection in their life and see them experience a healthier way of life,” Coon said. The church has many volunteers lined up to help with PAHotshowers but is looking for more. Anyone who wants to volunteer can contact Coon at 253-653-9880 or by email at [email protected]. The showers will be cleaned after each use by ceiling nozzles that spray down the entire area. “It’s made in such a way it’s going to be easy to clean up after every use,” Coon said. ________ Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at [email protected].