SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As extreme heat bears down on the region, many homeless people are still out on the streets in the thick of it, and a community-driven effort is bringing relief directly to those in need.
Showers by Touchstone is a mobile shower service that operate three days a week at locations around Sacramento. The showers are free for those experiencing homelessness.
"The shower means everything," said Sue Lockwood, who is currently homeless. "You soak your head, and you soak your dress and you walk around in 105, 107, 110 and you're nice and cool."
Lockwood has been coming to these since 2020. She is grateful to the man who started it all.
"I call him Saint Mark, because he's a saint to do this no matter what. He's exhausted all the time, helping the people. He's misting us, making sure we have food and clothes," Lockwood said.
Mark Lytal runs the mobile shower service. He started working with the homeless back in 2009 after he retired from the Air Force, and when the pandemic hit, he wanted to do more.
"I noticed there was really a big homeless problem, and I thought to myself, somebody needs to do something about it. Then I realized, I'm no better than anybody else if I don't do something about it. I like to do, not just say," he said.
On Wednesdays, the shower stations are set up in the back parking lot of Pipeworks, a rock climbing gym on North 16th Street in Sacramento.
In addition to showers, the team offers free food, clothes and hygiene products with help from volunteers.
With the extreme heat, they've also got out misters and converted showers into cooling rooms.
Their mission is especially important after the recent heat wave turned deadly. Over the weekend, a 58-year-old man collapsed in his trailer and died of heat stroke in North Sacramento. The triple-digit temperatures continue this week.
Over the years, the efforts have expanded and touched lives. Lytal said they have helped people find jobs and get connected to housing.
"I want to help them feel like they are people, and they're recognized and they are cared about, they are loved. I can't save the world, but when they go out in a shower and they come out and they're a new person..., I can't even explain," he said. "I love these people. They're my family. We're all God's children, everybody just has a different story."
Showers by Touchstone are open Mondays from 8 a.m.-12 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church on J Street in Sacramento. Wednesdays, they are open in the Pipeworks parking lot from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. for adults and 2 p.m.-5 p.m. for families with children. They are also at Pipeworks every Saturday from 9 a.m.-10:30 a.m. with hot meals and clothes.
The team also has showers at the Encounter Church and First United Methodist Church certain Saturdays of the month. Click here to find a full schedule.
Mark has put in personal funds to help run the showers and donations from the community have made a big difference. If you'd like to help, click here.
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