Providing Hope and Hygiene to our Unhoused Neighbors

By: Taylor Mabrey, Content Manager  

There are many things we take for granted in our day-to-day lives. Imagine going days or even weeks without access to a warm shower, clean clothing items, a toothbrush or a stick of deodorant. For many of our unhoused neighbors in Charlotte, this isn’t a hypothetical – it is their reality. Personal hygiene is something most of us do not have to think twice about, yet it plays a crucial role in dignity, self-confidence and overall well-being.  

That’s where Project Outpour steps in. Their mission is simple: to meet individuals where they are, provide the comfort of cleanliness and restore dignity one shower at a time, because they believe being clean is a catalyst for change. 

Project Outpour is a First-Year grantee in United Way of Greater Charlotte’s Unite Charlotte initiative, founded in 2016 to provide unrestricted funding and capacity-building programs to local grassroots organizations. Project Outpour is also part of United Way’s United Neighborhoods initiative for place-based work, serving the Beatties Ford/Rozzelles Ferry Corridor. Through United Neighborhoods, United Way provides funding to nonprofits whose services address needs identified by residents. 

With their custom mobile shower trailer, Project Outpour regularly travels to different neighborhood locations, offering free showers, fresh clothes and hygiene kits to individuals moving through homelessness. They also provide light snacks and refreshments. 

The shower trailer features two bathrooms, and each bathroom has its own sink, mirror, toilet and shower. When an individual visits the shower trailer, the Project Outpour team will ask if they are showering or if they just need to grab some hygiene supplies. 

“If a neighbor is showering, we will prepare an individualized basket with everything that they need to shower; we’ll prepare it with a towel, washcloth, a t-shirt and underwear,” Chief Dignity Officer MaShonna Hughes said. 

“One of the big things we try to do is make sure that our neighbors get to pick and choose the color or product brand, because we know most of us have a preference when we go to the store to buy those items.” 

Hughes and her volunteers will also ask which specific hygiene products they need before sending them in for their shower. Neighbors are allotted 20 minutes in the trailer and all items provided to them, with the exception of towels and washcloths, are theirs to keep. 

If a neighbor just needs some hygiene products, the Project Outpour team will prepare a drawstring bag for the neighbor based on what their needs are, and they always include a pair of socks, no matter what. 

Hughes joined Project Outpour because she loved the organization and its mission right from the start. 

“I was able to come out and volunteer and it just felt right. I’m a servant at heart. I enjoy serving people, specifically people that look like me, and unfortunately, that is the majority of the population that we serve here in Mecklenburg County,” Hughes said, “We have the ability to connect with people without any barriers other than us asking them for their name. There is no other requirement on their behalf to receive our services.” 

Over the last year, Hughes has noticed how great the need for their services is in our community. In 2024, Hughes and her team projected serving around 200 to 250 more neighbors than they served in 2023, but they more than doubled that number and provided almost 2,500 showers to neighbors last year. 

“Our services are a true need in this community, and my ambitious goal is to double that this year, because the number of unhoused neighbors continues to increase,” Hughes said. 

Hughes dreams of having another truck and another mobile shower trailer in order to expand their impact, allowing them to reach more individuals and be more equitable in the services they provide. 

“I am really hopeful that we can bring more personal care services and more awareness to our community,” Hughes said, “Working with our unhoused population, in my perspective, is a community problem and we need community members to support us in order for us to address and combat the challenges our unhoused neighbors are facing.” 

Along with their usual services, Hughes and her team would like to bring more nonprofit partners to their shower locations to fulfill even more of our neighbors’ needs. They have a few partnerships with health organizations that provide free Sexually Transmitted Infection testing for neighbors, some organizations or groups donate lunches to certain locations and there are a couple of laundromats they have partnered with that allows neighbors to wash and dry clothes for free. However, Hughes would like to bring more food services on site and possibly build in laundry services to their truck and trailer, so that they are able to be more of a one-stop shop for neighbors. 

Of course, the goal of expansion requires greater capacity, and Hughes noted that her team relies heavily on volunteers because they do not yet have enough staff to make her dreams come true.  

“As the numbers grow, we have to grow, and so we really need the support of our community in order to do that,” Hughes said. 

Being a part of both Unite Charlotte and United Neighborhoods, Project Outpour has been able to connect with many other nonprofit partners in our community, helping them build a better network of support and engagement. 

“I’m learning more about different grassroot organizations who are here in Mecklenburg County that I probably would not have known of otherwise. That creates an opportunity for us to expand services or bring those organizations to our service locations,” Hughes said.  

“And when it comes to the staff at United Way, whether it’s Unite Charlotte or United Neighborhoods, everybody is invested in you and your work. You see that, you feel that. I can’t even describe the impact that United Way has on our neighbors, with the focus specifically on grassroots efforts. It is such a breath of fresh air.” 

A quick shower might seem like a small thing, but for our unhoused neighbors, it can be life-changing. Project Outpour is doing more than providing hygiene services – they are fostering hope, dignity and human connection. As this organization continues their work across Charlotte, we are reminded that everyone deserves to feel clean, cared for and valued.  

Learn more about Unite Charlotte and United Neighborhoods.